BJP leaders meet at Fadnavis home, SC relief for rebels: Tops points in Maha drama

Maharashtra political crisis: BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said his party has not held any discussion with Shinde nor received any proposal from him, against the backdrop of the current crisis. Mungantiwar added the BJP has adopted a “wait and watch” strategy.

The turmoil in Maharashtra's politics continued to hog national headlines as the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in the state struggled to nip the rebellion with reports of more leaders making a switch to the rebel camp led by disgruntled leader Eknath Shinde continued to pour in.

Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis with BJP Maharashtra president Chandrakant Patil and party leaders during a meeting in Mumbai on Monday. (ANI)

The Supreme Court's hearing also provided little relief to the ruling coalition in the state even as the rebel MLAs, camping in BJP-ruled Assam, were granted a few days relief to reply to notices served by the Assembly deputy speaker.

Meanwhile, the senior leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in western state held a meeting at former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' residence to discuss the current situation, while claiming that no discussions were held with Shinde regarding any future move in the state.

Here are some of the top updates of the crisis:

- Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said his party has not held any discussion with Shinde nor received any proposal from him, against the backdrop of the current crisis. Mungantiwar said the BJP has adopted a “wait and watch” strategy. When asked about what happened at the core committee meeting, Mungantiwar said, “We discussed the Supreme Court's order. We will adopt a wait and watch stand”. The BJP, Mungantiwar said, is not hungry for power but it will work with full force for the welfare of the people and ensure progress of Maharashtra.

- In a relief to the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, the Supreme Court kept in abeyance the disqualification proceedings before the deputy speaker of the state Assembly till July 11, and also sought responses from the state government and others on their pleas questioning the legality of notices seeking their disqualification.

- At least nine ministers who have switched loyalty were divested of their portfolios during the day.

- According to a PTI report, Sena leaders addressed meetings in the constituencies of three rebel MLAs in Aurangabad region in a show of support for chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Sena leaders Chandrakant Khaire, Vinod Ghosalkar and MLC Ambadas Danve addressed party workers in Vaijapur, Aurangabad West and Aurangabad Central seats, which are represented by Ramesh Bornare, Sanjay Shirsat and Pradip Jaiswal, respectively. They said similar meetings are planned in the Assembly constituencies of Sandipan Bhumre (Paithan) and Abdul Sattar (Sillod).

- Minister Aaditya Thackeray said the "positive" thing about the entire crisis is that the “dirt has left the Shiv Sena”. He further said 15 to 20 Shiv Sena MLAs who have joined the rebel camp are in touch with him and have urged the party to bring them back to Mumbai from Guwahati.

(With inputs from agencies)