Eknath Shinde Claims 40 MLAs in Guwahati

Guwahati: Rebel Shiv Sena Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday claimed that 40 MLAs have accompanied him to Guwahati and they are devoted to Balasaheb Thackeray’s ‘Hindutva’ ideology.

Shinde and 32 Shiv Sena MLAs and seven other legislators belonging to smaller parties and independents arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday and are now staying at a luxury hotel in the city.

“Myself and 39 other MLAs accompanied me. We are loyal to Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology of ‘Hindutva’ and we are keen to take it forward,” the dissident Shiv Sena leader said, refusing to disclose details and their future course of action.

When asked by the reporters why they have come to the BJP ruled Assam, Shinde said: “It is a nice place.”

With the latest development, Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra seemed to be stumbling on the brink of a possible collapse.

The dissident legislators were received at the Guwahati international airport by Assam’s BJP MP Pallab Lochan Das and MLA Sushanta Borgohain, who months after his election to the state Assembly last year on a Congress ticket joined the BJP and subsequently became a member again in the bypoll as the saffron party nominee.

The Maharashtra legislators immediately after their arrival at the Guwahati’s Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport were taken to a hotel on the outskirts of the city in three luxury buses of the government owned Assam State Transport Corporation with police escort led by an IPS officer.

With the deployment of a huge security contingent led by senior officials, tight security has been put in place in and around the hotel.

For the first time, rebel MLAs from outside the region have been brought to the Northeastern region. “The MLAs are known to us. They came here and we have received them as a matter of courtesy,” Borgohain told the media sarcastically. There is speculation that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP’s key strategist in the Northeast region, is expected to meet the rebel MLAs.

---

Next Story:

Now you can get latest stories from Indtoday on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.  Click to follow Indtoday Facebook page and Twitter and on Instagram. For all the latest Hyderabad News updates