Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant arrives at Guwahati hotel, tally in Shinde camp rises to 39

In yet another shocker for Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, one more party legislator has joined the Eknath Shinde camp in Guwahati. With this, the Shinde Camp has the support of 39 Sena MLAs.

Shiv Sena MLA and Maharashtra Minister of Higher and Technical Education Uday Samant Uday Samant has reached the Radisson Blu hotel where the 50-strong breakaway faction (which includes several independent legislators) led by Eknath Shinde is staying. He reached Assam capital from Surat in a Falcon 2000 aircraft.

With Uday Samant, the Shinde camp has nine ministers, including Eknath Shinde, Gulabrao Patil, Shamburaje Desai, Dada Bhuse Rajendra Yedravkar (Independent - made minister from Sena quota), Abdul Sattar, Bachu Kadu (Independent - made minister from Sena quota) and Sandipanrao Bhumre.

'How long will you hide in Guwahati, you will have to come to chowpatty': Raut taunts rebel MLAs

Targeting rebel MLAs, Shiv Sena in a tweet said that however long the legislators may "hide" in Guwahati, they will ultimately have to come to "Chowpatty", a reference to Mumbai. 

"How long will you hide in Guwahati, you will have to come to Chowpatty," the Sena MP tweeted in Hindi along with a photo of the Maharashtra Assembly's Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal looking into the distance.

Key government establishments, including the state secretariat (Mantralaya), legislature complex (Vidhan Bhavan), Raj Bhavan and the chief minister's official bungalow 'Varsha' are located in the vicinity of the Girgaum beach, which is also called Girgaum Chowpatty, in south Mumbai.

The majority of Shiv MLAs have shifted their loyalty to senior Maharashtra minister Eknath Shinde and are currently camping in Guwahati, plunging the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, a coalition of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, into crisis.

On June 25, the Maharashtra legislature secretariat had issued 'summons' to 16 rebel MLAs, including Shinde, seeking their response by June 27 evening to the complaints seeking their disqualification. 

Sena's national executive has permitted Uddhav Thackeray to take action against the rebel MLAs.

Image: ANI, PTI