Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde requires one more MLA to split the party without facing disqualification under anti-defection laws. The Shinde camp currently has 36 MLAs (out of the party’s 55 MLAs) on its side.
The Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP — the alliance partners of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra — have suggested that rebel Eknath Shinde should be named as Chief Minister as a way out of the huge political crisis that has engulfed the ruling coalition, sources said. Shiv Sena rebels have written to the Governor declaring Eknath Shinde as their leader.
The BJP has named the political crisis in Maharashtra is the Shiv Sena’s internal matter and that the party is not staking claim to form a government in the state. “We haven’t spoken to Eknath Shinde. This is Shiv Sena’s internal matter. BJP has nothing to do with this. We’re not staking claim to form the government,” said Union Minister Raosaheb Patil Danve, who met party leader Devendra Fadnavis.