Highlights
- Union Minister Rane claims four MLAs of Uddhav Thackeray faction set to switch sides
- Rane refrained from divulging names of those four legislators
- Union Minister also claimed that Uddhav's politics is only confined to 'Matoshree'
Uddhav Thackeray vs Eknath Shinde: Union minister Narayan Rane claimed that at least four Shiv Sena legislators of the Uddhav Thackeray faction were in contact with him with regards to joining the ruling coalition headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
70-year-old Rane made this statement on Saturday in Pune where he attended an event as part of the Union government's 'Rozgar Mela.' However, he refused to disclose the name of those four MLAs.
"From 56 MLAs, there are hardly six to seven left in the Uddhav Thackeray faction. Those too are on the way out. Four MLAs are in touch with me but I won't divulge their names," Rane said while speaking to the media.
Further, the Union minister also took a dig at Thackeray, claiming that the latter's politics is only confined to 'Matoshree' - the private residence of the Thackerays in Mumbai and a power centre of the party along with Sena Bhavan.
Earlier on October 2, a large number of Shiv Sena workers from Mumbai's Worli area had switched sides and joined the party's Shinde faction at the chief minister's official residence.
Several MLAs revolted against Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA govt in June
In June this year, Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde and 39 other legislators revolted against the party leadership, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which comprised the Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress.
Subsequently, Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister on June 30 along with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy. Later, CM Shinde expanded his cabinet, inducting ministers from the Sena as well as the BJP.
(With inputs from PTI)
