Eknath Shinde and his rebel MLAs will donate ₹51 lakh to Assam flood relief efforts, the Shiv Sena leader tweeted Wednesday, after confirming the camp will leave the rain-battered northeastern state this afternoon and head (probably) to Goa before making a dramatic appearance in Mumbai on Thursday for the 11 am floor test ordered by governor BS Koshyari.
"On behalf of all Shiv Sena and allied MLAs, a decision has been made to contribute ₹51 lakh to the Assam Chief Minister's Relief Fund to help flood-hit brothers in Assam," Shinde tweeted.
Shinde and his rebels have been camped out at a luxury hotel in Guwahati in BJP-ruled Assam for a week (they shifted from another luxury hotel in Gujarat, another BJP state) as he fences with Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray.
According to news agency ANI, the rebel camp - which Shinde claims is nearly 50 - will leave the Radisson Blu in Guwahati and take a chartered flight to Goa.
{{/usCountry}}According to news agency ANI, the rebel camp - which Shinde claims is nearly 50 - will leave the Radisson Blu in Guwahati and take a chartered flight to Goa.
{{/usCountry}}70 rooms have been booked at the Taj Resort & Convention Centre.
Over the past week Assam has primarily been in the headlines not for devastating floods and landslides that have killed over 120 people and affected more than 50 lakh, but for the drama that followed Shinde and his rebels.
The opposition has been fiercely critical of Assam's BJP government, accusing it of playing politics instead of working to save lives.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma batted away the criticism, saying 'we welcome all tourists... we need funds to deal with floods'.
READ | 'Grateful Sena leaders came to Guwahati because...': Himanta Sarma
"We (the state) will earn through GST... why should we turn away Goddess Lakshmi when most of our hotels are empty..." he asked reporters.
The Assam floods have also prompted large-scale relief ops by national disaster agencies and the Indian Air Force, which on Tuesday said it had airlifted 517 tons of relief material to Assam and Meghalaya over the past six days alone.
Meanwhile, as Assam continues to struggle, the rebel MLAs will be moved closer to Mumbai today in preparation for the all-important floor test.
READ | What next in Maharashtra? Legislative and legal possibilities
That could, however, be delayed after the Sena approached the Supreme Court today to challenge the governor's decision.
The top court agreed to an emergency hearing at 5 pm.
With input from ANI