Maharashtra crisis: Eknath Shinde claims support of 50 MLAs, to reach Mumbai soon

Mumbai, Jun 28: In his first appearance before the media after arriving in Guwahati, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde said he and other dissident MLAs and independents, who were lodged in Guwahati, will return back to Mumbai soon. Shinde has claimed the support of 50 MLAs.

"We are in Shiv Sena, we are taking Shiv Sena forward. There should not be any doubt about it," Shinde told reporters.

"We will give let you know about our further course of action," he said.

"No MLA is suppressed here, everyone here is happy. MLAs are with us. If Shiv Sena says that the MLAs present here are in contact with them, they should reveal the names," he added.

In what seems to be an apparent bid to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, dissident legislators of Shiv Sena, which heads the ruling coalition, have been camping in Guwahati, around 2,700 km away from Mumbai, since June 22.

A group of rebel Maharashtra Shiv Sena MLAs, led by minister Eknath Shinde, were taken to Surat from Mumbai on June 21 and then flown to Guwahati the next day.

The dissidents have named their group as "Shiv Sena (Balasaheb)".

The rebel group said it enjoys a two-thirds majority in the legislature party and will prove its strength in the House.

The Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat on Saturday issued summonses to 16 of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Shinde, seeking written replies by the evening of June 27 to the complaints seeking their disqualification.

The MLAs, after receiving the notices, have been huddling inside the hotel since Sunday morning, discussing various options to respond to the notices.