The leader of the breakaway Shiv Sena faction, Eknath Shinde, flew to Vadodara in Gujarat from Guwahati on Friday night for a meeting with former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss possible Government formation in Maharashtra, sources have said. A very senior BJP leader and Union Minister was also in Vadodara on the Friday night, sources said.
Shinde reportedly boarded a chartered flight at Guwahati on Friday night to travel to Vadodara, sources said. After holding talks with Fadnavis, Shinde flew back to Guwahati where nearly 40 rebel Sena MLAs are putting up.
According to a source-based report put out by a TV channel, Fadnavis had secretly left Indore for Vadodara in a chartered plane on Friday evening. He returned Indore and had left for Mumbai.
The development makes it clear the Sena rebel was working in tandem with the BJP to topple the Uddhav Thackeray-led alliance Government.
Meanwhile, rebel Sena MLA Chimanrao Patil justified his support to Shinde, saying, “We have been fighting the Congress and NCP for the last 30 years. The main competitors in our constituencies are the Congress and the NCP and will be our opponents in the next election as well. That is why we had requested the CM that there should be a natural alliance but he never responded to our feelings. Hence, we requested our leader Shinde to take a firm stand on this. A natural alliance is the wish of all Shiv Sena workers in Maharashtra.”
