Mumbai, Jun 23: In retort to Shiv Sena's demand of disqualifying 12 rebel MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, the rebel leader said "you can't scare us".
Taking to his Twitter handle, Eknath Shinde wrote, "You cannot scare us by giving the names of 12 MLAs for disqualification because we are followers of the Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray. We know the law, so we do not pay heed to threats."
He added,"Who are you trying to scare? We know the law too! According to the 10th Schedule to the Constitution (Schedule), the whip is for assembly work, not for meetings. There are numerous Supreme Court decisions in this regard." Instead of budging, the leader went on to add: "We demand action against you for creating an illegal group without a number."
The list of MLAs that the Shiv Sena wants to be disqualified include Sanjay Shirsat, Sandipan Bhumre, Tanaji Sawant, Bharat Gogawale, Abdul Sattar, Lata Chaudhari, Yamini Jadhav, Prakash Surve, Anil Babar, Balaji Devdas and Mahesh Shinde and Eknath Shinde.
Earlier on Thursday, demanding disqualification of rebel MLAs, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said: "We've filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker (of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly) and demanded the membership of 12 MLAs be cancelled as they didn't attend yesterday's meeting."