Guwahati: Over a dozen Shiv Sena MLAs, who have rebelled against the party bringing a crisis to the MVA government in Maharashtra, are being taken to Assam and expected to reach Guwahati early Wednesday, sources said.
Assam is currently ruled by a BJP-led government. The move came after Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party and herded some MLAs to BJP-ruled Gujarat. Top leadership of Assam BJP and the state government are believed to have been making arrangements for the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs’ accommodation in Guwahati.
The Maharashtra MLAs are likely to stay in Guwahati’s Radisson hotel, the sources said.This is perhaps for the first time that MLAs from a western Indian state is being taken to a northeastern state after their rebellion against the party leadership.
Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed 14 to 15 Sena MLAs, including some ministers, are with Shinde in Surat city. However, another party leader said the number could be 23. The Shiv Sena, which heads the MVA government, has 55 MLAs, followed by allies NCP (53) and the Congress (44) in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly where the current simple majority mark is 144.