Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and Shiv Sena strongman Eknath Shinde plunged the ruling alliance in the state into a political crisis on Tuesday as he rebelled against his party and landed in a Surat hotel along with some Sena MLAs, putting a huge question mark on the stability of the two-and-a-half-years old MVA dispensation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray s emissaries were successful in establishing contact between Thackeray and dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, but sources said Shinde was unmoved and had some tough questions for .
Thackeray on Tuesday afternoon deputed two leaders Milind Narvekar and Ravindra Phatak to drive to Surat and have a one-on-one meeting with Eknath Shinde.
Mumbai/Surat, June 21 (PTI): Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and Shiv Sena strongman Eknath Shinde plunged the ruling alliance in the state into a political crisis on Tuesday as he rebelled against his party and landed in a Surat hotel along with some Sena MLAs, putting a huge question mark on the stability of the two-and-a-half-years old MVA dispensation. The dramatic turn of events came hours after results of polls to the state Legislative Council on Monday night, which saw the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) losing one of the 6 seats it contested, to the opposition BJP which got all its five nominees elected to the Upper House, possibly on the back of cross-voting in its favour from the ruling bloc besides support from Independents and MLAs from smaller parties. Sena MP Sanjay Raut said 14 to 15 party MLAs are with Shinde in Surat in BJP-ruled Gujarat. He also alleged that two of them, including Nitin Deshmukh, have been beaten up and he has suffered a heart attack. The Uddhav Th