Shiv Sena leader and Minister in the State cabinet Eknath Shinde who has reportedly camped in Surat has garnered the support of about 25 out of 56 Shiv Sena MLAs, according to the reports.
Shinde and his supporter MLAs are “not reachable” since Monday night and sources in Shiv Sena claimed that he might split the party and support the BJP or join the party to form the government.
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In the case of Shinde garnering the support of 25 Shiv Sena MLAs, there will be a vertical split in the party and he might join hands with Devendra Fadnavis to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government.
According to media reports, Shinde is in contact with the BJP leadership and Devendra Fadnavis has landed in New Delhi for holding talks with the party high command. Some of the Shiv Sena Ministers in the State cabinet are with Shinde, according to the sources.
BJP has 106 MLAs and support of over dozen independent MLAs. If Shinde joins with Fadnavis, the BJP will be comfortable crossing the magic figure of 144 in the State Assembly to prove the majority.
There is no official communication from Shinde or Shiv Sena on the developments while NCP and Congress leaders have summoned their MLAs to connect with the party leadership.
Meanwhile Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his close confidants are putting in desperate efforts to hold the flock together and save the government. Thackeray is meeting party leaders in Mumbai and will meet MLAs today afternoon.
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