Express News Service
MUMBAI: A day after the Election Commission asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led factions and Uddhav Thackeray to prove that they have majority members in the Shiv Sena, Uddhav on Sunday sought affidavits from district president and office-bearers.
The EC asked both the Shinde factions and Uddhav to submit the documents that they have majority members in the Sena by August 8.Uddhav held a series of meetings with his party district president and took affidavits from them that they were with him.
“This exercise will prove that Uddhav Thackeray enjoys the majority support. The affidavits will be presented before the EC as documentary evidence. It will help Uddhav to stake claim over an arrow and bow, the symbol of the Shiv Sena,” said a Sena leader, requesting anonymity.
On the other hand, Shinde claimed that out of 55 Sena MLAs, he had the support of as many as 41. Besides, 12 of the total 18 Lok Sabha MPs have already extended support to Shinde.
Meanwhile, rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil on Sunday said Uddhav did not give enough time to the party legislators during his tenure as Maharashtra chief minister.
The former minister also said that Thackeray should get rid of the coterie of party leaders around him.
“A ‘sarpanch’ (elected village head) ought to give audience to every elected representative of the local governing body. When Thackeray was just the party head, we could raise our complaints against a minister if he or she did not cooperate,” Patil told a regional news channel.
“But after he became the chief minister, there was no one whom we could turn to for taking up our complaints of works not getting done. He should have given enough audience to the legislators,” he said.
Several rebel Sena leaders have earlier blamed party’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut for the strain in ties between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sena.
But without taking anyone’s name, Patil said, “There are some leaders surrounding Thackeray, who are damaging Shiv Sena further. Because of these leaders, people like us suffer. We were made to wait for hours. We are elected representatives who have won elections with the support of nearly three lakh voters, and still we get such disrespectful treatment.”
“Many people who are in the inner circle of Thackeray, have never won an election. But they never treated us with respect,” he said.
Patil is among the 40 Sena MLAs who rebelled against the party leadership.
Due to the rebellion led by Eknath Shinde, the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed on June 29.
The next day, Shinde took oath as the chief minister, while BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis became his deputy.
(With PTI Inputs)
MUMBAI: A day after the Election Commission asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led factions and Uddhav Thackeray to prove that they have majority members in the Shiv Sena, Uddhav on Sunday sought affidavits from district president and office-bearers.
The EC asked both the Shinde factions and Uddhav to submit the documents that they have majority members in the Sena by August 8.Uddhav held a series of meetings with his party district president and took affidavits from them that they were with him.
“This exercise will prove that Uddhav Thackeray enjoys the majority support. The affidavits will be presented before the EC as documentary evidence. It will help Uddhav to stake claim over an arrow and bow, the symbol of the Shiv Sena,” said a Sena leader, requesting anonymity.
On the other hand, Shinde claimed that out of 55 Sena MLAs, he had the support of as many as 41. Besides, 12 of the total 18 Lok Sabha MPs have already extended support to Shinde.
Meanwhile, rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil on Sunday said Uddhav did not give enough time to the party legislators during his tenure as Maharashtra chief minister.
The former minister also said that Thackeray should get rid of the coterie of party leaders around him.
“A ‘sarpanch’ (elected village head) ought to give audience to every elected representative of the local governing body. When Thackeray was just the party head, we could raise our complaints against a minister if he or she did not cooperate,” Patil told a regional news channel.
“But after he became the chief minister, there was no one whom we could turn to for taking up our complaints of works not getting done. He should have given enough audience to the legislators,” he said.
Several rebel Sena leaders have earlier blamed party’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut for the strain in ties between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sena.
But without taking anyone’s name, Patil said, “There are some leaders surrounding Thackeray, who are damaging Shiv Sena further. Because of these leaders, people like us suffer. We were made to wait for hours. We are elected representatives who have won elections with the support of nearly three lakh voters, and still we get such disrespectful treatment.”
“Many people who are in the inner circle of Thackeray, have never won an election. But they never treated us with respect,” he said.
Patil is among the 40 Sena MLAs who rebelled against the party leadership.
Due to the rebellion led by Eknath Shinde, the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed on June 29.
The next day, Shinde took oath as the chief minister, while BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis became his deputy.
(With PTI Inputs)
