Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday took a dig at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray who is embroiled in a political crisis following a revolt by party heavyweight Eknath Sinde.
Sarma, who is in Delhi today, was asked about Sena's charge that his party has engineered the political crisis in the western state and that the BJP government in Assam was hosting the rebel MLAs at a hotel in Guwahati.
Sarma, however, brushed aside charges, saying he cannot stop anyone from visiting the state and extended an invitation to Uddhav.
"I invite MLAs from all over the country to visit Assam. How can I stop people from coming to a hotel? Can I tell you not to come to a hotel in Assam... because there is a federal structure in the country. I am happy when anyone comes to Assam, they can stay as long as they want," Sarma said.
"He (Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray) should also come to Assam for vacation," he added.
The Assam CM's comments come amid a raging political crisis in Maharashtra'sruling MVA government -- an alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.
According to Shinde's claim, he enjoys the support of 40 Shiv Sena MLAs and 12 Independents. Currently, they all are staying at a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Guwahati.
The rebel MLAs are demanding from Uddhav to exit an unnatural alliance and join the ranks again with the BJP to form a stable government. Notably, the Sena had in 2019 after the declaration of the Assembly election result sided with NCP and Congress even though the Sena-BJP alliance had secured a comfortable majority.
READ MORE: Eknath Shinde EXCLUSIVE: 'Have support of 40 Shiv Sena, 12 Independent MLAs
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