Sanjay Raut made this comment after a rebel in the ruling Shiv Sena on Thursday.
Highlights
- The Sena has 55 members in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly
- A chartered flight carrying Shinde, Sena MLAs, are stationed in Assam's Guwahati
- Sanjay Raut parried the question on whether CM Uddhav Thackeray will resign
Maharashtra Political crisis: Maharashtra MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said the ongoing political developments in Maharashtra could lead to the dissolution of the state Assembly. This comment from Raut comes after the revolt by senior Shiv Sena leader and minister Eknath Shinde, who is a part of ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra.
"The political developments in Maharashtra are headed towards dissolution of the state Assembly," Raut tweeted. Later, when asked to elaborate on the tweet, Raut, who is the Shiv Sena's chief spokesperson, said, “When such a situation arises in any state, I have seen that the Legislative Assembly is dissolved.”
He parried the question of whether Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will resign. Shinde has said he has 46 MLAs supporting him. “I have more numbers (of Shiv Sena MLAs) than needed (to form a separate group in the Assembly without inviting the anti-defection law provisions),” he told a Marathi TV channel.
The Sena has 55 members in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. A chartered flight carrying Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs, who have rebelled against the party, reached Assam's Guwahati city early Wednesday.
At least 40 Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde have rebelled against the party, plunging the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra into a crisis. According to reports, Shinde was upset with Uddhav Thackeray over an alliance with the NCP and Congress. Shinde and other MLAs are currently in Guwahati.
The BJP and Shiv Sena contested elections together in 2019 and secured a comfortable majority. But the Shiv Sena separated from the BJP-led NDA after the result was declared, ending a 25-year-long political partnership.
Sena then joined the ranks with then arch-rivals Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Sharad Pawar and Congress to form an alliance government in the state.
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