Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde will return to Mumbai 'soon'

Shinde rubbished Shiv Sena's claim that as many as 20 MLAs of his group are in touch with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

Pic: IANS

Guwahati: Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who has been staying in Guwahati, on Tuesday said he will soon return to Mumbai. He also rubbished Shiv Sena's claim that as many as 20 MLAs of his group are in touch with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

Talking to reporters outside the luxury hotel where he and his group of MLAs are lodged since last week, Shinde also said he has the support of 50 MLAs. "All these MLAs have come here on their own and to take forward Hindutva," Shinde said. Senior Sena leaders have been claiming that around 20 MLAs of the party, now with Shinde in Guwahati, are in touch with them and want to return to Maharashtra.

The political crisis triggered by Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde's rebellion with a majority of MLAs of his party entered the next phase with the Supreme Court on Monday (June 27) keeping in abeyance the disqualification proceedings of 16 rebels before the Deputy Speaker till July 11 and also refusing to pass any interim order on the state government's plea that there should not be any floor test in the Assembly.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena on Tuesday refuted reports which claimed that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had called BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to save the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. In an official statement, Shiv Sena spokesperson Harshal Pradhan said, "Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray called Devendra Fadnavis to save the government some such news is going on but this news is only to mislead. Whatever, Uddhav Thackeray has to say, he speaks publicly. "Earlier, sources had claimed that Thackeray was in touch with BJP leaders to find a way out of the political crisis facing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government that includes the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress apart from Shiv Sena. The sources had also said that Thackeray was ready to resign on June 22 at 5 pm after it was clear that there was "no way out" of the political crisis facing the Maharashtra government but MVA allies convinced him not to resign. A core committee meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Maharashtra unit was held on Monday to discuss the state's political situation.