Guwahati: The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra, who have been camped out in Assam for the past week, have donated Rs 51 lakh to help with flood relief efforts, their spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The Sena MPs have raised the red flag of rebellion against their party, under the direction of senior leader Eknath Shinde. These MLAs first arrived in Guwahati on June 22 and then flew in several groups via chartered flights from Surat in Gujarat.
The Sena rebel MLAs’ spokesperson, Deepak Kesarkar, spoke to PTI in response to criticism that they were lodging in a posh hotel in Guwahati while other areas of Assam were experiencing severe flooding “Shinde’s contribution to the ongoing rescue efforts of the Assam Chief Minister’s Relief Fund is Rs 51 lakh. The situation of the locals cannot be ignored.”
Kesarkar added that the rebel MLAs have agreed to leave Guwahati on Wednesday and proceed to a location close to Mumbai, who also noted that Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari has ordered the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) administration to participate in a floor test on Thursday.
However, a close associate of Shinde claimed that the group would remain in a hotel in Goa and be in Mumbai by 9.30 am on Thursday.
Kesarkar declared: “So that we can easily get to the state capital for the floor test, we will be lodging somewhere that is an hour’s flight from Mumbai. The decision (of the floor test) will be in line with what we have long demanded of our leadership.”
Expressing disappointment with Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he said the party MLAs had been asking him to move away from the NCP and Congress (allies in the government), but he never listened to them.
According to PTI, Kesarkar stated, “The remaining Shiv Sena lawmakers with him (Thackeray) would have to abide by our whip at the time of the floor test. The majority of Shiv Sena MLAs decided to leave these two parties.”
Thackeray can definitely issue some instructions, but when we are in the House, we are bound by the Constitution of the country, he said.
Shinde on Wednesday stated that he would go back to Mumbai for the floor test.