'Hardcore Sainiks' will fight back from current situation, Uddhav Thackeray warns Eknath Shinde

In June this year, Eknath Shinde and 39 other Shiv Sena legislators rebelled against the party leadership, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.

New Delhi: The current situation faced by the Shiv Sena requires a fightback that only hardcore, loyal Sainiks can accomplish, party chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday in a reference to the rebellion led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Addressing members of the Vahatuk Sena, the transport wing of the party, at his residence, Thackeray said he has received 11,000 new membership forms and affidavits from the Vahatuk Sena.

"Our numbers are growing and the transport carriers of the Vahatuk Sena should fall short to carry all these affidavits," he said in an apparent reference to the ongoing case against the Shinde faction in the Election Commission in connection with the party symbol.

The Sena cadre was a determined one and transporters know how to skip potholes, he said.

Eknath Shinde withdraws MVA's list of 12 nominations for Legislative Council under Guv quota

Meanwhile, the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government has withdrawn the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi's recommendation for the nomination of 12 names as MLCs under the Governor's quota. The previous government led by Uddhav Thackeray had recommended 12 names for nomination as MLCs two years ago, but the file was never approved by Governor B S Koshyari.

People from the fields of arts, literature, social work etc are eligible for the nomination as the MLCs.

Prominent among the 12 names suggested by MVA included actor Urmila Matondkar who had joined Shiv Sena after quitting Congress.

The Shinde government wrote to the governor to treat the recommendation as withdrawn and the governor has accepted the decision of the new government, an official said on Sunday.

The Shinde government told the governor that the fresh list of nominations will be conveyed to him soon.