Maharashtra Govt. Suffers Internal Rebels

30 Sena members meet in Assam with the leader Mr. Shinde

Mumbai: The Maharashtra govt. faces its tough days due to internal rebellions. Due to the same, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray called a meeting of his party on Wednesday afternoon - online, since he has Covid - the headcount stood at a scanty 13.

The sum of the missing parts was, meanwhile, growing in Assam. By 9 pm, the rebels within his party who have turned on Mr Thackeray, clocked 44. They have elected as their leader, Eknath Shinde, who has yet to resign as a senior minister in the Maharashtra government.

The meeting was held in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati - where Mr Shinde, 58, has closed his grip on the Shiv Sena, a party founded by Mr Thackeray's father.

The Sena has 55 MLAs; to be recognised as the bona fide party and not a splinter group, 37 MLAs are needed. Mr. Shinde has more than that - which suggests Mr Thackeray stands to lose the lead role not just in the Maharashtra government but in his party.

According to the officials, Mr. Shinde pulled out of Mumbai on Monday night in a luxury bus that drove into Surat. A dawn guesstimate put his group at about 18. By noon, that had changed to 23. Since then, there has been a revision upwards nearly every few hours. The location has also been amended - from Surat, where Mr. Thackeray's emissaries were able to meet with some of the rebels, to far-away Assam, tougher to breach.

Moreover, taking notes from yesterday, a letter sent to the Governor from the pop-up camp in Assam had the signatures of 30 Sena MLAs. It claimed that Mr. Shinde was their leader. Another four MLAs arrived by private plane last night. Two more jetted over this evening, again on a chartered flight.

Among those in Guwahati are ministers and MPs. The revolt is all-in. So much so that Ravindra Fatak, one of the aides trusted by Thackeray to drive to Surat for negotiations, has shimmied over to Guwahati.

By noon, it was clear that Mr. Thackeray had been easily bested. Sanjay Raut, speaking on his behalf, asked the MLAs in Guwahati to "return within 24 hours", offering that Mr. Thackeray was open to their demand of exiting his government. The overture was peculiar on several counts.