22 Shinde MLAs are planning to join BJP, claims Sena mouthpiece

MUMBAI:  The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has sought to set the cat among the pigeons on Sunday by claiming that 22 MLAs belonging to the rival Shinde-led camp are likely to join the BJP and that Shinde himself would be replaced by a BJP leader as the new chief minister of Maharashtra.

The claim appeared in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Sunday. “The 22 MLAs of the Shinde factions will form a group that will merge with BJP. The Shinde-BJP government is a temporary arrangement. Shinde will be asked to step down anytime and a BJP leader will be sworn in as the CM,” says the article.

It also claimed citing “top BJP leaders” that Shinde would become like Union minister and RPI leader Ramdas Athawale. “Shinde will not have any option except to merge his remaining group with BJP as well to become “another Narayan Rane” for the BJP.

“Shinde has no influence in Delhi. It is Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis who gets the credit for any work. The differences between CM Shinde and his deputy are growing. Recently, there were clashes over the top cop posting,” claimed Saamana. It said Fadnavis, who is also the home minister, did not follow the advice of Shinde while transferring an IPS officer. “An annoyed Shinde left Mumbai and went to his hometown in Satara,” Saamana said.

The Sena mouthpiece also commented on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in the same article. “The Governor was very prompt, super, and pro-active during the Uddhav Thackeray government. Where is he now, why is he not giving advice to the Shinde-Fadnavis government?” The Uddhav-led Sena has been aggressively targeting the Shinde-BJP alliance especially after the BJP had to withdraw from the contest for the Andheri-East constituency.

The BJP’s decision has ensured a smooth victory for Rutuja Latke, the Sena candidate of the Uddhav faction. The Shinde faction had already expressed support for the BJP, so in the party’s withdrawal, the Shinde faction too is thought to have been a part of the decision-making.

The polls for the richest civic body the BMC are due soon. All major Maharashtra parties are poised to enter the fray in the hope of taking a shot at the top position. That could explain why the Uddhav faction is going hammer and tongs against the ruling alliance in a bid to project itself as the standalone claimant to the BMC.