Shiv Sena legislator Kailas Patil, who had accompanied party rebel Eknath Shinde to Surat, today alleged that some people are signing up with the rebel camp under pressure. The Maharashtra government is currently battling a rebellion, with Mr Shinde claiming that he has the support of 40 MLAs.
“Some people are signing under pressure. Whatever decision the Chief Minister takes, we are with him,” Mr Patil told NDTV.
Kailas Patil, the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing Osmanabad, had earlier said he escaped from a car carrying legislators to Surat, walked kilometers, hitched a ride on a two-wheeler and truck before he was finally sent a vehicle to ferry him to ‘Varsha’, the chief minister’s official residence.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray put up a brave face at a meeting of his party on Friday as another Shiv Sena MLA joined the rebel camp in Guwahati which is already believed to have enough members to wrest control.
Mr Shinde has enough MLAs – he needs 37 but has more than 40 – to split the party and claim leadership of the “real Shiv Sena”.
Hosted by the BJP, first in Gujarat and then in Assam, Mr Shinde is widely expected to collaborate with the Sena’s oldest alliance partner and make a bid for power in Maharashtra.