Maharashtra political crisis: Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant defects to Shinde camp

Even as the Shiv Sena expressed confidence in the disqualification of 16 rebel legislators it lost another MLA cabinet minister Uday Samant to the Eknath Shinde camp Samant flew to Guwahati Assam on Sunday a day after attending the partyrsquos national executive meeting chaired by its president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray With his defection strength in Shindersquos camp has increased to 39The Sena is now left with a CM and four ministersmdashthree from the party and one an ally Two are from the AssemblymdashAaditya Thackeray and Shankarrao Gadakh Independent and two from the upper HousemdashSubhash Desai and Anil Parab The CM represents the party in the upper HouseSamant the minister of higher and technical education said from Assam that he would speak his mind at 11 am on Monday He took the charted route other rebels used to reach Guwahati He went to Surat Gujarat from where he was airlifted in a chartered plane The rebel group now has nine ministers including two from allieslsquoNo escape for the 16rsquoOn Sunday Sena counsel Devdutt Kamat told media persons that 16 MLAs could not escape disqualification because they had rejected the partyrsquos directives to attend the meeting He said the claim of Shinde group having a twothird majority was not useful because that provision was for merging with other parties not for forming a separate groupMaharashtra minister Uday Samant before leaving for Guwahati at Surat on Sunday PicANIldquoThe deputy speaker can disqualify them The legislative party is formed by the original party that has elected MLAs The party whip not just in the House but outside it could be the reason for disqualification There are similar cases that have been decided by the speakerrdquo he said adding that the partyrsquos national executive has also endorsed the decision to disqualify themKamat said the governor cannot intervene in the disqualification process and also in the petition to remove Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal which has been rejected on technical grounds ldquoIt is because the House is not in session There are the Supreme Court decisions that clarify thisrdquo he saidRebels move SCThe rebel group has moved the Supreme Court against deputy speaker to get the disqualification proceedings scrapped and petition for presiding officerrsquos removal The matter has been listed before a vacation bench for 1030 am on Monday Rebel group spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar said they will prove that they are the real Shiv SenalsquoWhy arenrsquot they herersquoNCP president Sharad Pawar has said in Delhi that he has asked his party colleague and Maharashtra home minister to ensure the protection of rebel MLAsrsquo familiesHe said the Sena was hopeful that many rebels would reconsider their stance and come back to the party fold ldquoWersquore with the Sena and the alliance We will continue to support itrdquo he added wondering why the Shinde group hesitated to land in Mumbai despite having a twothird majority to break the MVA alliance as they wishedGovernor in actionCOVIDaffected Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari who was discharged from the hospital on Sunday morning is learnt to have sent his report to the Centre on the current political crisis He also took cognisance of the rebel MLAsrsquo appeal for protecting their families from attacks from the Sena cadre and wrote to the state police chief to ensure security as aggressive protests are being held across the stateMeanwhile the central government has provided its security force to protect the families of rebel Sena legislators in Maharashtra and also to the MLAs in AssamThe governorrsquos role will be keenly watched henceforth because he is expected to be approached by the rebels the Opposition and the government if need arises His assessment of the political crisis law and order and governance bears a lot of weight in such a situation In the worst scenario the government can recommend the Presidentrsquos rule in the stateAlso Read Maharashtra political crisis Rebelled against Shiv Senas support to those having links with Dawood says Eknath ShindeShinde offered CM post before rebellionShiv Sena leader and minister Aaditya Thackeray who is on a whirlwind reachout campaign told one of the party gatherings that his father had offered Shinde the CMrsquos post on May 20 ldquoExactly one month later the rebellion happenedrdquo he said16No of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs facing disqualification