Maharashtra crisis: Shinde to address meeting of rebel Sena MLAs before they leave for Mumbai

Mumbai, Jun 30: Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde likely to address the MLAs staying in Goa in a meeting that will be held before they leave for Mumbai. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde will now decide the next court of action.

A chartered flight carrying the breakaway MLAs landed at the Dabolim airport in Goa on Wednesday night from Guwahati. They are staying in a luxury hotel at Dona Paula.

"We will hold a meeting on Thursday to decide our future course of action," Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of the rebel group, told a television channel. He said the decision will be taken by Shinde after talks.

Kesarkar said a decision on when to leave Goa for Mumbai is yet to be taken.

"Whether to leave on Thursday or Friday is yet to be decided," he said. When asked about the Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday in which it refused to stay Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari's direction to the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to take a floor test in the Assembly, Kesarkar said there was nothing to feel happy about it as the NCP and Congress made Sena people fight among themselves. "We had tried to avoid it (rebellion)... But it could not be avoided," he said.

Reacting to Thackeray's resignation, Kesarkar said that Sena MLAs had urged him to pull out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) even yesterday, but he preferred to approach the Supreme Court.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned on Wednesday, a day before a scheduled floor test in the state Assembly.

The state BJP unit has asked all its MLAs to gather in Mumbai. To a question about the BJP's next move, as it is the single largest party in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, Patil said, "The next steps will be decided by Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde." He also said BJP workers "should observe restraint in victory."

Fadnavis told reporters that "I will tell the party's stand tomorrow for sure." There will be another round of meeting at the official residence of Fadnavis.

The MVA government in Maharashtra has been facing a political crisis after a revolt in Shiv Sena. The rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde have been camping in Guwahati.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave its go ahead for floor test in Maharashtra Assembly tomorrow as it refused to stay the state Governor's decision which was challenged by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had asked the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state to prove a majority on the floor of the House on June 30 stating that the "present political scenario" unfolding in the state paints a "very disturbing picture."