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Chants of "Shiv Senecha wagh aala" (Shiv Sena's tiger has arrived) and “Uddhav sahab angaar hain,” among other slogans were raised as Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray along with his family greeted the Shiv Sena cadre outside Thackeray’s private residence ‘Matoshree’ on Wednesday night, 22 June, amid the ongoing rebellion that has brought political turmoil in the state.
After offering to quit as the chief minister, Thackeray left the official residence ‘Varsha,’ along with wife Rashmi, sons Aaditya, who is a Cabinet minister, and Tejas at around 9.50 pm, while Sena cadre raised slogans and showered petals on them.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sainiks outside the Thackeray’s residence expressed support for the leader. One of the supporters said, “We are ordinary Shiv Sainiks. We have no posts and we don't want any. We are with Balasaheb Thackeray ji and Uddhav Thackeray ji."
Another added, “We've seen many like Eknath Shinde. They all came and went. Shiv Sainiks are not hypocrites. He should come and speak to saheb."
'Don't Play Games,' 'Committed to Hindutva': Uddhav Thackeray
Earlier in the evening, Thackeray spoke on the rebellion through a live webcast on Facebook and offered to resign, but asked the rebel leaders and MLAs to speak to him directly and not resort to wrong means.
Praising Uddhav Thackeray for the way he spoke during his live webcast that came amid the political crisis, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Imtiaz Jaleel said his "politeness" was a "tight slap" to the dissenters within the Shiv Sena.
Thackeray said, "I would have not have been so hurt and shocked if the Congress or the NCP had said that they don't want me as the CM. But, Kamal Nath ji called me yesterday, and so did Sharad Pawar ji, extending support to me. What's more disturbing is if my own people don't want me as the CM, why not say so?"
He added, "If that was the case, why did they have to go to Surat and speak and not speak to me directly? If any of them would have said that they do not want me as the CM, I would have stepped down."
You can read more highlights of his speech here.
'MVA Has Weakened Sena': Rebel Leader Eknath Shinde
On Wednesday morning, rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who has claimed the support for 46 MLAs, had reached Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, Assam, along with a group of Maharashtra MLAs, possibly making it the first time that MLAs from a Western Indian state were taken to a Northeastern state after their rebellion against the party leadership.
After Thackeray’s speech, Eknath Shinde took to Twitter to say that the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance has only benefited the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party and led to the weakening of the Shiv Sena.
Shinde added, “It is important to get out of this unnatural alliance to save the party. Important to take a decision for Maharashtra."
Meanwhile, Sanjay Raut on Wednesday refuted reports of rebel leader Eknath Shinde being offered the CM post by the Shiv Sena and said that Uddhav Thackeray will remain the chief minister.
He also said that the party will prove majority on the floor of the House, if need be.
"These reports are untrue. No such talks (of making Shinde the CM) have taken place. Uddhav Thackeray will remain the Chief Minister of Maharashtra," he told the media.
"If it comes to it, we will also prove majority on the ground," he said.
It remains to be seen if the MVA government, on the verge of collapse, will bear the rebellion in the Shiv Sena ranks and if a Bharatiya Janata Party government will be installed in the state.
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