In a major revelation amid the ongoing Maharashtra political crisis, it has come to light that two days before Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde went inaccessible with over 40 MLAs, he had a heated argument with Aaditya Thackeray, state cabinet minister and son of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut at the Renaissance hotel in Powai. All the Sena MLAs had been kept there ahead of the Legislative Council elections.
A source told Indian Express that the argument took place at a time when negotiations were taking place regarding how the used should be used for elections.
Sena was in support of using additional votes for the Congress party. However, this move was opposed by Shinde. Shinde was not amenable to the idea of using votes of Sena MLAs to get Congress candidates elected as MLCs. It turned into a heated argument between the two sides.
The Congress had fielded two candidates in the Legislative Council elections in spite of having numbers to ensure the victory of only one. One of the Congress candidates, Bhai Jagtap, got the votes he needed, but the other candidate, Chandrakant Handore, was not elected.
The source further exclaimed that this could have been the deciding factor for the revolt.
Also Read: This Is Shiv Sena’s Internal Issue, Says Sharad Pawar; Party Sacks Shinde As Its Chief Whip
Apart from this, insiders said Shinde was unhappy about interference from other Sena ministers in his departments.
Additionally, yesterday he had spoken his mind with CM Uddhav Thackeray, expressing his frustration over the coalition's style of governance and its shortcomings. This came after Thackeray's close aides Milind Narvekar and Ravindra Phatak met Shinde and the other MLAs. Later, he spoke to the CM over the phone.
For the unversed, in a significant blow to the MVA government, after suspected cross-voting in the MLC elections, BJP managed to bag five seats. Following the elections, Shinde and his MLAs stayed at a hotel in Surat.
In the midst of this saga, Shinde took to Twitter to announce that he has never nor will ever cheat for power since he follows Anand Dughe's teachings and Balasaheb's thoughts.
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