It’s still not late, come and talk, Uddhav urges rebels
Surendra P Gangan and Swapnil Rawal
MUMBAI: Uddhav Thackeray has made a last-ditch appeal to save his party and his government. On Tuesday he told the rebels in Guwahati, “As the head of the family, I tell you from the bottom of my heart, the time has not passed yet. I appeal to you to sit in front of me. We will resolve all differences in your minds as well as in the minds of the Shiv Sainiks; there will be a definite way out of it, we will sit together and find a way out (of this impasse).”
It was an emotive appeal to those MLAS who might be having second thoughts about breaking their affiliation with the Shiv Sena.
Eknath Shinde was quick to respond. Within minutes of the Shiv Sena president’s statement, he tweeted: “On the one hand your son (Aaditya) and your spokesman (Sanjay Raut) will call us, Shiv Sena workers, pigs, garbage, dogs, illiterate and akin to corpses, and on the other hand, an appeal is being made to the same MLAS to save an anti-hindu government. What does this mean?”
Shinde also made his own statement on television saying the rebels would soon return to Mumbai. “All the MLAS here are happy and united and there is nothing to worry. We will all go to Mumbai very soon and together,” he said in his first appearance before the media since his arrival in Guwahati on June 22.
The MVA constituents, in parallel, are preparing for a long legal battle. According to the leaders HT spoke to, any no confidence motion brought against deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal or the disqualification of 16 MLAS challenged by the Shinde camp in the Supreme Court would not have any impact on the future of the government. They however said that the trust vote could pose a challenge to the survival of the government. The ruling parties see the only way to win the trust vote is by bringing at least 20 rebel MLAS back in the fold. Significantly, the rebels said they will not formally withdraw their support to the MVA government or move a no-confidence motion as it creates bad optics among their supporters. Notionally at least Uddhav Thackeray continues to be their leader. At the same time, the rebels say, they would support the BJP if it moves a no-confidence motion against the MVA government.
“They (MVA) want to show that we have expressed lack of confidence in our own leader and inflame sentiments in Maharashtra. In any case, a vote of no confidence will have to be tabled and it does not matter who is doing it. We are not asking Uddhav saheb to quit as we are from his party,” said Deepak Kesarkar, spokesman for the rebel group.
Legal experts say a floor test would be challenged if it’s called for before the next hearing in the apex court on the petition about the disqualification of 16 rebel MLAS and a no trust motion against deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal.