MVA government crisis: Now, 8th minister jumps ship; only 3 Shiv Sena men left in Uddhav Thackeray cabinet

MUMBAI: With the Shiv Sena on the warpath in a bid to reclaim the party, the rebel Eknath Shinde faction retaliated strongly on Sunday bringing higher education minister Uday Samant over to Guwahati to join the coup. The rebel camp also moved the Supreme Court against the disqualification notices sent to 16 of their MLAs by deputy speaker of the state assembly Narhari Zirwal.A second petition demands that Zirwal recognise Shinde as group leader of the Shiv Sena's legislature party.
Late in the night, Shinde tweeted against the MVA alliance: "How can Balasaheb's Shiv Sena support those who have ties to Dawood Ibrahim who orchestrated the bomb blasts? I took these steps to oppose this."
Samant, who was earlier with the NCP, is the eighth minister to switch sides from chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's cabinet. This leaves just three Sena ministers in the cabinet.
Busy weekend for rebels as they boost tally; party livid
Education minister Uday Samant, who switched to the rebel Shiv Sena camp on Sunday, was present at the party’s national executive a day earlier. He was part of the core group formed after the revolt and was privy to theleadership’s legal strategy. Sources say the one-time NCP leader has negotiated for a cabinet berth and guardian ministership of Ratnagiri in the new government. The rebel group will seek more time to respond to the 16 disqualification notices. The deadline is Monday evening. “We should be given one week’s time since this is not an emergency,” said rebel MLA Deepak Kesarkar.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and Union minister Raosaheb Danve stirred the pot at a rally in Jalna. He said, “We will only remain in Opposition for 2-3 days.” Governor B S Koshyari was discharged from hospital on Sunday morning after recovering from Covid. Sources say Eknath Shinde could return to the city later this week to meet him after the SC decides on their petitions. Fifteen rebel MLAs received Y+ protection from the CRPF by Sunday morning, a day after Koshyari had written to the Union home secretary. “Police security is a state subject. This shows the hand of the BJP,” said the Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant.
In order to boost the morale of the cadre, the Sena held rallies and demonstrations through Sunday. Spokesman Sanjay Raut stoked a new controversy with his explosive utterances against the rebels at a rally in Dahisar. “The 40 MLAs are living corpses. Their souls are dead,” he said. “The corpses of 40 MLAs will come here. We will send them for a post-mortem to the state assembly.” Raut said, “In the Kamakhya temple, they sacrifice goats. We have sent 40 goats. Do the sacrifice.”
Taunting the ministers who had switched sides, he said Sandipan Bhumre was once a watchman in a sugar mill. “Water supply minister Gulabrao Patil was a chai-tapriwala and will go back to being one,” he said. His comments drew a strong reaction from rebel MLA Deepak Kesarkar. “Such was Bal Thackeray’s greatness that he gave opportunities to all strata. Raut should watch what he says,” he said. At a rally in Santacruz, Aaditya dared the rebels to resign and face an election. “The bow and arrow symbol will remain ours, the rebels will have to merge with another party,” he said.
He said 15- 16 rebels were with Sena and wanted to return. “It’s sad to see these MLAs enjoying themselves in a hotel. There is a flood in Assam, people don’t have enough to eat.” Emphasising that the rebels were on shaky legal ground, the Sena held a press meet with their lawyer, SC advocate Devadatt Kamat. “Legally, disqualification can be invoked for anti-party activities. The MLAs did not attend meetings that were called in an emergency situation,” said Kamat.