Weakened by revolt, how will Shiv Sena find new workers? ‘We’ll go to villages,' says Sanjay Raut

More than two-thirds of the party's legislators in the Maharashtra assembly have joined rebel leader and new CM Eknath Shinde, which may lead to former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray lose control of the party founded by his father.

With more than two-thirds of Shiv Sena MLAs joining rebel leader and new Maharashtra chief minister, Eknath Shinde, senior party member and Uddhav Thackeray loyalist Sanjay Raut said on Monday that the Sena will go to villages and find new workers.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut (ANI)

“Party won't weaken, power is not our oxygen. We're strong not because we're in power, we are strong and that's why we're in power. People come and go. They (rebels) opted to join our party and left due to outside forces. We'll go to villages, we'll find other workers,” Raut told news agency ANI.

The Rajya Sabha MP further described the current ruling dispensation, comprising of the Shinde group and BJP, as a ‘temporary’ arrangement. He said, “They'll be unable to go to people. They were lions in the Shiv Sena. Even Kasab didn't have so much security but they had when they reached Mumbai. What are you scared of?”

With more than two-thirds of the Sena's total legislators on his side, the new CM cannot be in violation of the anti-defection law, and can claim full control of the party. The two sides are already contesting a legal battle in the Supreme Court.

The new Maharashtra government, with a surprise deputy CM in former chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, was sworn in on Thursday, a day after Uddhav Thackeray finally resigned from the state's top post. This led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government – which also comprised of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress – nearly two-and-a-half-months after it assumed power.