The Uddhav-Thackeray led Shiv Sena faction seems to be in for another major setback as 12 of Sena’s 18 party MPs are in touch with Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and are likely to switch sides to his camp with a press conference in Delhi about their probable move expected today, sources said.
Sources said all the 12 MPs are expected to be in Delhi today. Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde himself is in Delhi today, where he would meet senior BJP leaders. It will be Shinde’s second visit to Delhi since assuming the office as Maharashtra CM on June 30. Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadanvis had visited New Delhi on July 8 and 9 and had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda.
As per sources, the 12 MPs in touch with Shinde are — Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane, Sadashiv Lokhande, Hemant Godse, Hemant Patil, Rajendra Gavit, Sanjay Mandlik, Shrikant Shinde, Shrirang Barne, Rahul Shewale, Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav, Krupal Tumane, Bhavna Gawli.
In another development, the Eknath Shinde-led faction on Monday held a meeting with Shiv Sena MLAs in Mumbai and passed a resolution electing him as the leader of Shiv Sena. In the meeting, 14 MLAs, who extended their support to Uddhav Thackeray during Eknath Shinde’s rebellion against the Sena leadership, also adopted resolutions for the appointment of executive members of the party.
Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray has appointed over 100 new office-bearers in Mumbai, Palghar, Yavatmal, Amravati among other districts in a bid to rebuild the party’s organisational base and regain its hold in the state.
With inputs from News18
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