Unnerved by rebellion, Sanjay Raut says ‘Sena ready to dump Cong & NCP if rebels return’
Raut told press briefing that the party was ready to walk out of MVA government, but the party rebels should return to Mumbai from Guwahati.
New Delhi: The Shiv Sena embattled by rebellion of its legislators is fighting its biggest crisis in decades and is also making last minute efforts to save the party from division. Making a big statement, Sena leader & RS MP Sanjay Raut today announced that the Shiv Sena was ready to dump its alliance partners in the MVA alliance i.e. Congress & Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) provided the rebel legislators return to party fold.
The party is staring at a massive crisis unfolding before it and may even head towards a vertical split as more than 35 MLAs have reportedly joined Eknath Shinde camp. Out of Shiv Sena’s 55 MLAs in Mahrashtra Assembly, Shinde camp has garnered huge support and if they get backing of 37 MLAs, even the disqualification rule won’t apply.
Moreover, if Shinde camp builds a separate front with more than 35 MLAs, the party may not able to control the rebellion and eventually a vertical split may happen.
As the party finds itself wobbling under the weight of MLAs jettisoning the party, Sanjay Raut’s statement is seen as a desperate attempt to save the Shiv Sena.
Raut told press briefing that the party was ready to walk out of MVA government, but the party rebels should return to Mumbai from Guwahati.
“The MLAs should not communicate from Guwahati, they should come back to Mumbai and discuss with CM. We are also considering exiting MVA if this is the will of all MLAs, but for that, they have to come here and discuss it with the CM,” Raut said.
Currently, Shiv Sena leads the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government in Maharashtra. Despite being a smaller party in the alliance, its Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ran the government for 2.5 years until it hit a major roadblock, apparently due to Eknath Shinde & rebels revolt against party over fight on Hindutva issues.
The Shiv Sena & its alliance partners also held parleys yesterday, discussing ways to save the government and also strategy to deal with crisis. The alliance mulled handing over Chief Minister’s post to Shinde but the latter made his demands clearly.
“Dump the Congress & NCP and return to partnership with BJP for taking forward Hindutva philosophy” is the first & last demand of Eknath Shinde.