‘MVA a dragon, I'm fighting for Shiv Sena's freedom’: Eknath Shinde's latest message for Sainiks

Shiv Sainiks have taken to streets in various parts of Maharashtra in protest against Shinde and 37 of his fellow Sena rebels.

Published on: Jun 25, 2022, 22:10:28 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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In his latest message for Uddhav Thackeray's supporters, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Saturday explained the reason behind his ongoing revolt against the party supremo – a ‘dragon’ named MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi).

Shiv Sena's rebel leader Eknath Shinde. (ANI)

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“My dear Shiv Sainiks, try to understand the MVA's game. I am fighting to free the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainiks from the dragon named MVA. This fight is only for the benefit of the Shiv Sainiks. Your Eknath Sambhaji Shinde,” he wrote on Twitter, his post translated roughly from Marathi.

Shinde used the hashtag ‘MiShivSainik’ with his tweet. For his earlier posts, he used hashtags such ‘HindutvaForever’, ‘RealShivSainik’ and ‘MVAisAntiShivSena', respectively.

Also Read | Another rebel Shiv Sena MLA explains why he joined team Eknath Shinde

This latest post from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi legislator came after Shiv Sainiks, angered by his betrayal of their party chief, took to streets in various cities across Maharashtra. In several places, the protesters vandalised properties belonging to Shinde, and some of the MLAs who are supporting him in his rebellion.

However, the Maharashtra urban development minister has also received support from a section of Sainiks, including in his stronghold of Thane.

Also Read | In solidarity: Sainiks gather outside Shinde’s Thane house

Shinde's revolt against Thackeray, who is also the western state's chief minister, began earlier this week, when the former, with a handful of party MLAs, arrived in Surat in the neighbouring Gujarat. From there, the rebels flew to faraway Assam, where they are put up in a hotel in the northeastern state's largest city, Guwahati.

Also Read | 'Dance of monkeys...': Asaduddin Owaisi's take on Maharashtra crisis

At present, a total of 38 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Shinde himself, are camping in Assam, and have the support of 10 independent legislators. The Sena's overall strength in the Maharashtra legislative assembly is 55, which means that only 17 MLAs are with Uddhav Thackeray.

The rebels want Uddhav to call of the MVA alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress. The three parties came together in November 2019 to form the ruling coalition despite Sena's ideology being polar opposite to that of both NCP and Congress.

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