A group of Maharashtra MLAs, led by dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday morning by a charter aircraft and were taken to Radisson Blue Hotel on the outskirts of the city amid tight security. The MLAs were received at the airport by BJP MPs Pallab Lochan Das and Sushanta Borgohain Shinde.
Talking to media at the Guwahati airport, Shinde said: “A total of 40 Shiv Sena MLAs are present here. We will carry Balasaheb Thackeray’s Hindutva.”
Notably, this is for the first time that MLAs from a western Indian state is being taken to a northeastern state after their rebellion against the party leadership.
After the Maharashtra Legislative Council poll results on Monday, Shinde along with other party lawmakers went incommunicado and later it came to light that they were camping in a hotel on Dumas road in Surat city of Gujarat.
It is to be mentioned that on Tuesday, Shiv Sena removed Shinde as its Legislative party leader. He was replaced by Sewri MLA Ajay Chaudhary. The decision was taken at the meeting convened by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray today at his Varsha residence.
