Maharashtra Crisis: Shiv Sainiks Taking to Streets, Rebels are “Scared to Return to Mumbai”

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, June 25: Even as the Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is struggling to retain control of his government and the party, a large number of Shiv Sainiks coming out on the streets in different parts of the state and isolated attacks on the residences of some rebel MLA, seems to have unnerved the dissident camp.

Not only a leader of the dissidents’ camp Deepak Kesarkar, who was speaking in Guwahati on behalf of the rebel MLAs said they were feeling scared to return to Mumbai and many others urged the Shiv Sainiks not to come out on the streets against them, the rebel group leader Eknath Shinde also complained against the Thackeray government of having withdrawn security cover to the 16 rebel MLAs including him, which, however, was promptly rejected by the official side.

In a bid to retain the legacy of the Shiv Sena founder and ideologue Balasaheb Thackeray, the rebels are learnt to have decided to rename the group as “Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray” but the official group, despite being in the minority, has decided to fight against it to retain its original identity.

A meeting of the national executive of the Shiv Sena held on Saturday adopted six resolutions including one authorising Uddhav Thackeray to take all necessary actions against the rebels. Even as the Sena spokesman and MP, Sanjay Raut, said disciplinary actions to be taken by Uddhav Thackeray would be known by late evening, the deputy speaker issued show cause notices against 16 rebel MLAs for disqualification for flouting party mandate.

While the Sena Thackeray faction said it would take action against rebels led by Shinde as they seemed headed towards launching a spin-off party named “Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray,” Kesarkar said in Guwahati the rebels would not merge with any other party, but emphasised that the Sena should be with the BJP. “Synergy between a BJP prime minister and the state CM is important for the development of the state,” he said.

But the official faction has challenged the move by the rebels to call themselves “Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray” in a letter to the Election Commission. “The work that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has done is commendable. We will all fight the elections under his leadership,” Raut said.

Earlier, in a setback for the rebel MLAs, the Deputy Speaker, who is holding office in the absence of an elected speaker, rejected the no-confidence motion moved by Eknath Shinde camp against him. Though 33 rebel MLAs had signed the no-confidence motion, none of the MLAs submitted it to the Deputy Speaker’s office, choosing instead to send it through an anonymous email ID, sources said.

The Deputy Speaker has also issued notices to the 16 rebel MLAs on the disqualification plea by Team Uddhav. The rebel MLAs have been asked to appear in person or through their counsel on Monday to respond to the disqualification plea.

Shiv Sena workers today ransacked the office of rebel party MLA Tanaji Sawant in Pune. Following this, Pune Police issued an alert and directed all police stations to ensure security at offices related to Shiv Sena leaders in the city. Large gatherings have also been banned in Mumbai.

“The Sena is not finished” and that people siding with the BJP must be questioned, Thackeray said. “Those who want to leave are free to go openly…. I will create a new Shiv Sena,” he added.

Earlier Shinde tweeted to say that the state government has withdrawn security cover provided at the residences of 16 rebel legislators, including himself, and dubbed the action as “political vendetta”. The charges, however, were denied by Sena’s chief spokesperson Raut.

The support the official group is getting from the party rank and file, the Uddhav Thackeray is confident that despite being reduced to a minority on the floor of the House it would win a confidence vote as many of the dissidents would side with Thackeray. The party also said that the claims by the Eknath Shinde camp that is “the real Shiv Sena” has no merit. “The Shiv Sena is a registered regional party and Uddhav Thackeray is our chief. We have a Constitution through which party president is selected,” Advocate Dharam Mishra from Shiv Sena legal cell said.

Kesarkar speaking on behalf of the rebel MLAs led by Shinde said all the MLAs were still a part of the Shiv Sena and would be setting up a separate block of the party. “We are not going to merge with anyone. We will be setting up a separate block of the party. I have always told the CM that the Sena needs to be with the BJP. The synergy between a BJP Prime Minister and the state CM is important for the development of the state.”

Referring to incidents of attacks on offices and residences of rebel MLAs in Maharashtra, he added, “We also want to tell the CM to fulfil his constitutional responsibility and ensure that the violence is stopped. We do not feel safe to return as no action is being taken against the perpetrators.”

The Sena national executive meeting also passed a resolution stating that no one would be allowed to use the name of the party or Balasaheb Thackeray to form a new group.

Speaking after the national executive meeting, Shiv Sena leader and CM’s on Aditya Thackeray said: “You already know what was discussed in the meeting. The important thing is that we will not forget the betrayal done by the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs. We (Shiv Sena) will win for sure.”

Shiv Sena workers staged a protest against the party’s rebel MLAs Tanaji Sawant and Dnyanraj Chougule in Maharashtra’s Osmanabad city on Saturday, an official said.

The Sena’s group leader in Osmanabad Nagar Parishad Somnath Gurav said, “Sawant and Chougule have joined Eknath Shinde’s faction. Sawant was made a minister earlier, Chougule has also won the Assembly elections on Sena ticket.” Development projects worth crores of rupees are underway in their constituency, and the state government-led by Thackeray has provided funds for these projects. If they had anything to say, they should have met the chief minister and told him, Gurav said. “Now it is being heard that Shinde is using Bal Thackeray’s name for his group of MLAs. Shinde should use their individual name for it and not Bal Thackeray’s. They are not worthy of using the name,” the Sena leader said.

According to sources from the rebel camp, Shinde is now aiming to take over the entire party within the legislature, but his efforts faced a hurdle after Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal approved Ajay Chaudhary as the Sena’s legislative party leader replacing Shinde.

The Shinde group held a meeting in the Guwahati hotel where they are stationed and decided to move a no-confidence motion against Zirwal, following which two BJP-backed Independent MLAs wrote to Zirwal claiming he has no authority to disqualify any MLA.

On Thursday, the Sena had moved a petition to disqualify 12 MLAs. A day later, it added four more names to the list. By late Friday, the State’s Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni reached the legislative building to discuss the possible scenario. With a legal battle between the two groups in sight, the ongoing crisis is likely to be extended.

Eschewing conciliatory offers made earlier to the rebel Shiv Sena MLA faction led by Minister Eknath Shinde, the Sena on Friday took a hard line against their “perfidy” with MP Sanjay Raut stating that the party’s doors were henceforth closed for the rebels. He stressed that the MVA government stood firm and would complete its remaining tenure of two-and-a-half years.

“They [rebel Sena MLAs] have taken a very wrong step. We will win on the floor of the House. Should this battle be fought on the streets, then we will win that too. Those who want to challenge us, can return to Mumbai. We had given them a chance to turn back, but now I think that time has elapsed,” said Raut.

Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with Secretaries, Divisional Commissioners, Municipal Commissioners and District Collectors asking them to concentrate on ongoing work and not to worry about unpredictable politics. “Politics and monsoon are unpredictable. Political games will continue but that shouldn’t affect the governance. You should continue with pro-people works avoiding any hardships to them,” he told the bureaucrats.