New Delhi: One more Shiv Sena MLA, Uday Samant, flew by a private jet to join the rebel group led by Eknath Shinde in Guwahati, taking the total number of rebels to 39, two more than two-third of the party’s strength in the Maharashtra legislative Assembly. Said to be close to Aaditya Thackeray, Samant was the “eight minister” to shift allegiance from the embattled Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray even as son Aaditya today warned the “traitors” that the road from Mumbai airport to Vidhan Bhavan goes via Worli- the Shiv Sena bastion represented by him.
The rebel camp now has 39 Shiv Sena legislators, two from the Prahar Janshakti Party and seven Independents.
Amid the political chaos, posturing, and reports of violence and vandalism from the state, all eyes are now on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari who was today discharged from hospital. With the possibility of rebels staking claim on the government, or rooting for President’s rule with the BJP, Koshyari’s presence at Raj Bhavan has become crucial. Today he directed DGP Rajnish Seth and Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey to provide security cover to all rebel “Shiv Sena” MLAs.
Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, who yesterday sent disqualification notices to 16 rebels, had appointed Ajay Choudhary as the leader in the House. Claiming to be the “real Shiv Sena”, the Shinde side has moved the Supreme Court over the disqualification notice. Two petitions have been filed challenging the disqualification notice and the appointment of Chaudhary as leader of the legislative party.
The legislature secretariat had yesterday issued ‘summons’ to 16 of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Shinde, seeking written replies by the evening of June 27 to the complaints seeking their disqualification.
Amid buzz is that Thackeray and NCP were contemplating pushing for “fresh Assembly elections with Gujarat polls”, the buzz is rebels and BJP can also ask the Governor to elect a new Speaker to prove who has the majority.
The post of Speaker has been vacant since February 2021.
Maintaining that it enjoys a two-thirds majority in the legislature party and will prove its strength in the House, rebels have named their group “Shiv Sena (Balasaheb)”.
The Mumbai civic polls are expected later this year and the Shiv Sena, which has been ruling the rich civic body for nearly three decades, is striving to retain its hold over it. The Thackeray side today also pitched lawyers to argue its powers to disqualify rebels.
Claiming that rebels are being given wrong advice that they could exist as a separate group while supporting a BJP government, senior Supreme Court lawyer Devadatta Kamat said they will be disqualified as per existing provisions of the Anti-defection Law.
Kamat said the claim that they have two-third majority and hence the anti-defection law provisions will not be applicable to them is not true. “A lot of misinformation is being peddled in the media. The Shiv Sena has initiated disqualification against the 16 MLAs under Para 2 (1) of the tenth Schedule. The concept of two thirds majority not facing disqualification was only if they merge with another party.”
Sources say Thackeray is aware that rebels do not want to merge with the BJP as it could pose problems with the core Sena electorate. The threat of disqualification is to get the MLAs back from Guwahati, they said, amid claims that Thackeray was aware of the unrest and had “even offered Shinde the post of CM on May 30”.