Maharashtra political crisis to be decided by ‘legal battles’?

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), despite its depleting numbers, reasserted Friday that it continues to have a majority as the two warring factions prepared for a legal battle. The focus is now on the role of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal.

The Deputy Speaker Zirwal was preparing to send notices to 16 rebels over disqualification for which they will have to be in Mumbai.

Failing to stop the attrition of Sena MLAs to the Shinde camp, the MVA game plan now is to test the patience of the rebels, focus on contradictions within the group and build pressure on them to return to Maharashtra. Sources said NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the chief architect of the MVA experiment, has taken it upon himself to manage the crisis.

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Meanwhile, police in Maharashtra issued an alert across the state after Shiv Sena workers vandalised hoardings of party MLAs who have joined the Eknath Shinde-led rebel group currently encamped at a hotel in Guwahati. The opposition BJP, accused of engineering the crisis, remained on guard lest a premature move might backfire.

Hours after Shinde sent a letter to the governor and deputy speaker on Thursday night with signatures of 37 MLAs appointing him the leader of the Sena, Zirwal approved the appointment of Ajay Choudhari as the group leader of the Shiv Sena in the Assembly.

To put the rebels under pressure, the Shiv Sena also petitioned to disqualify 18 rebel group MLAs from the Assembly, including Shinde, Sanjay Shirsat and others.

The rebels responded with two independents - Mahesh Baldi and Vinod Agarwal - filing a no-confidence motion against Zirwal. They argued, citing a Supreme Court judgement, that the deputy speaker could not adjudicate on the disqualification plea. The rebels also sought legal advice, and Shinde left the hotel for a few hours.

Also Read | Uddhav dares rebels to win elections without Sena, Thackeray name

The MVA said it has the numbers and would continue to function normally as earlier. "They (the rebel group) say that they are Shiv Sena, so Shiv Sena and NCP and Congress together, the MVA have a majority, that's it," said Deputy CM Ajit Pawar of the NCP.

"So far, the support claimed by the rebels is only on paper. They have not yet come to Mumbai, and the numbers will change after they return. Those who have gone will have to repent. We will fight them in the streets and on the Floor of the House," Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said. "This is a legal battle as well as a political fight now," Sena's Mumbai South MP Arvind Sawant said.

Meanwhile, a day after Shinde claimed support of a "national party", which he had described as a "mahashakti", he faced tough questioning on whether he meant it to be the BJP. "The 'mahashakti' that I was referring to is Balasaheb Thackeray and 'Dharmaveer' Anand Dighe," Shinde said.

In a virtual address to party workers, Thackeray blamed the BJP for the current political turmoil in Maharashtra, referred to the rebels as "prisoners, " and said efforts were needed to bring them back.

Defending his son Aditya, a minister in his government, Thackeray pointed out that Shinde's son, Shrikant Shinde, is an MP from Kalyan. "You (Shinde) should keep the Thackeray name out of your politics and see if you can survive. One can never detach the Thackerays from the Shiv Sena," he said.

The opposition BJP sought Governor Koshyari's intervention to curb the "rush of GRs (government resolutions)", worth thousands of crore, seen over the past few days, which it termed "suspicious".