Rebel Sena leader Shinde says he has support of a ‘national party’

Sharad Pawar asks who other than the BJP could be behind this

Days after his revolt against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, rebel leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday accepted that the entire operation is supported by a “national party”, without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Grabbing the opportunity, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar advised the rebels that no BJP leader would come to guide them when they arrived to prove majority in Mumbai.

On Thursday evening, the rebel group claimed that it had sent another letter to the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, Narhari Zirwal, with the signatures of 42 MLAs claiming Mr. Shinde was the Shiv Sena’s legislative party leader. On Wednesday, the rebel group had sent a letter with the signatures of 34 MLAs.

The Shiv Sena on Wednesday removed Mr. Shinde and appointed Ajay Chaudhary as its legislative party leader, to which the rebel group has objected, claiming majority.

But when asked, Mr. Zirwal’s office said that no new letter has been received. “The group leader is decided based on the party chief’s letter and I have received a letter from Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray naming [Ajay] Chaudhary as the legislative party leader, which I have accepted,” Mr. Zirwal said. 

The video released by Mr. Shinde’s aides on Thursday evening shows him addressing the rebel group of MLAs, and boasting of the support of a “national party”. He is seen saying: “No matter what happens, we will win. As you said, that is a national party, a superpower. Pakistan…you know what happened. They have told me, that the decision taken by us is historic. You have all the strength of ours. If you need anything, we will not let you down. This will be experienced whenever we will need any help.” He did not name any party.

Minutes later, Mr. Pawar held a press conference at which he read out the names of national parties in the country and asked who other than the BJP could be behind this. “The Maharashtra Assembly is where [the State] government’s majority will be decided after a floor test and not Guwahati [where the rebel group is camping]. I have seen such a condition many times before and my assessment is that the government will prove majority. I do not think that the Assam BJP or local leaders would be able to come to guide them [the rebel MLAs] for this,” he said.