40 Shinde MLAs to visit Kamakhya temple in Guwahati

According to sources, the MLAs had vowed to the deity to come back for the darshan after the peaceful formation of the government.

Mumbai: Forty rebel MLAs from Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena-led by chief minister Eknath Shinde will visit Kamakhya temple in Guwahati as a gesture of gratitude to the goddess as their vow of formation of the government was fulfilled. Chief minister Eknath Shinde said that the MLAs from his party will now visit Guwahati with their family members.

Rebel leaders with Eknath Shinde, at Radisson Blu hotel in Guwahati in June. (ANI)

Thirty-nine MLAs who rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray to side with Eknath Shinde in June had camped in a hotel in Guwahati for more than a week and had visited Kamakhya temple before returning to Maharashtra on the day of proving the majority of Shinde-Fadnavis government. According to sources, the MLAs had vowed to the deity to come back for the darshan after the peaceful formation of the government.

“Forty MLAs from Shinde’s Shiv Sena and 10 independents will visit the temple with their families,” said a senior leader from the party.

The family members of the rebel MLAs were back home under tremendous pressure and could not accompany the lawmakers in Guwahati, the leader added. This time, they will travel to Guwahati and the temple and the tour is expected to happen in December.

Shinde, while speaking to the reporters informally on Sunday also said that he was planning a tour of Ayodhya in the next few weeks. “Though not in November, we will visit the Ram Temple at Ayodhya along with a few MLAs from our party later sometime,” he said.