Senior Sena min Shinde revolts, pushes MVA govt to the brink

BJP Denies It's Poaching Tigers; Rebel MLAs Will Return: Uddhav

- Prafulla Marpakwar & Priyanka Kakodkar

Mumbai: Immediately after two poll setbacks, the MVA government plunged into a serious political crisis on Tuesday with a major revolt in the Shiv Sena led by urban development minister Eknath Shinde, a powerful grassroots leader who has long felt sidelined. This is seen as one of the biggest rebellions in the history of the 56-year-old party and the first that chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is facing after the death of his father and party founder Bal Thackeray.

If the revolt by Shinde and anywhere between 21 and 35 Sena MLAs they were holed up in a five star hotel in Surat -succeeds, the government faces the threat of being reduced to a minority. However, MVA leaders claimed there is no threat to the government.

Shinde has demanded that Sena exit the MVA and join hands with BJP for the cause of Hindutva. "I am not interested in a cabinet berth. Neither am I interested in taking over the reins of Sena. I am interested in saving the Shiv Sena, I request you to snap ties with Congress and NCP and join hands with BJP," Shinde reportedly told Thackeray.

The Sena has 55 MLAs. In order to split the party and avoid the anti-defection law, Shinde will need the support of two-thirds of the party or as many as 37 MLAs.

By night, the rebel Sena MLAs were being shifted to Guwahati. There was also widespread speculation that the BJP was planning to shift its 106 MLAs to a safe place in Gujarat to prevent poaching by the MVA parties.

Most MLAs with Shinde will return to fold: CM