Maharashtra Political Crisis: Eknath Shinde-Led Rebels Name Their Group 'Shiv Sena Balasaheb'

Mumbai: Amid the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv demand to disqualify the rebel MLAs from Assembly, the latter led by Eknath Shinde on Saturday named their group 'Shiv Sena Balasaheb'.

''Our group will be called Shiv Sena Balasaheb. We will not merge with any party,'' media reports quoted rebel Shiv Sena MLA Deepak Kesarkar as saying.

Meanwhile, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government continues to put up a strong fight even as 38 rebel MLAs are camping in Guwahati.

Shiv Sena, on June 23, had shot a letter to the Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker seeking the disqualification of 12 rebel MLAs.

Later, Eknath Shinde responded to this move by hitting back at his own party.

"You cannot scare us by giving the names of 12 MLAs for disqualification because we are followers of the Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. We know the law, so we do not pay heed to threats," Shinde tweeted.

Besides Shinde, Shiv Sena has sought disqualification of Prakash Surve, Tanaji Sawant, Mahesh Shinde, Abdul Sattar, Sandeep Bhumare, Bharat Gogawale, Sanjay Shirsat, Yamini Yadhav, Anil Babar, Balaji Devdas, and Lata Chaudhari.

On Friday, the rebel camp had written a letter to act speaker Narhari Zirwal saying that Eknath Shinde will be the elected leader in the assembly. Two independent lawmakers backing them also issued a notice to move a no-confidence motion against Zirwal, who accepted a Sena proposal to disqualify 16 rebel MLAs.

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