Boost for Sena rebel Eknath Shinde as two more MLAs supporting him arrive in Surat, to be flown to Guwahati

In a shot in the arm for dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, two more MLAs arrived in Gujarat's Surat on Wednesday afternoon, from where they will be flown to Guwahati in Assam, where other party rebels are camping at present, sources said.

This is likely to add to the woes of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which is battling a survival crisis following the rebellion of senior Sena minister Shinde and a sizeable number of MLAs belonging to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. Shinde has claimed that he has 46 MLAs supporting him.

A group of rebel Maharshtra MLAs, led by Shinde, were flown to Guwahati on Wednesday morning and were taken to a luxury hotel on the outskirts of the city amid tight security. The MLAs were taken to Surat from Mumbai on Tuesday and the decision to shift them to Guwahati was taken on security grounds, a BJP source said earlier in the day.


Hours after Shinde and the group of MLAs were shifted to Assam, Manjula Gavit, an independent MLA who represents the Sakri assembly constituency, and Yogesh Kadam, who is Sena's legislator from Dapoli assembly segment in Maharashtra, arrived in Surat this afternoon.

Sources claimed that a third Shiv Sena MLA would also join the group of rebel legislators led by Shinde and reach the Gujarat city later during the day.

Both Gavit and Kadam are waiting at the Surat airport to board Guwahati-bound flight soon after their arrival at Surat and brief stay at a hotel.

Shinde and other legislators were staying at a hotel on Dumas road in Surat city upon their arrival on Monday night.

Earlier in the day, Shinde asserted that 40 MLAs from Maharashtra have accompanied him to Assam's Guwahati and they are committed to Balasaheb Thackeray's 'Hindutva' ideology.

Shinde and some MLAs had reached the hotel in Surat on late Monday night, hours after Legislative Council polls which saw the BJP winning a fifth seat despite not having enough numbers in the Assembly, possibly due to suspected cross-voting from the ruling bloc besides support from Independent MLAs and those from smaller parties.

After the Council poll results, Shinde went incommunicado and later it came to light he is camping in the hotel along with some party MLAs.