Day 6 of Maha imbroglio: Rebel group moves SC, Shinde says 'ready to die for Hindutva'

Mumbai: The Maharashtra deadlock completed six days on Sunday. Eknath Shinde, the de facto leader of the rebel MLAs, moved the Supreme Court opposing disqualification notices issued by Maharashtra Deputy Speaker against the dissident legislators. "If we have to die to follow the ideology of Hindutva, we will consider it as our destiny" he tweeted later in the day. Meanwhile, 15 among the rebel MLAs residing in Guwahati received Y+ security from the Centre.

Amid the political crisis, Uday Samant, the Maharashtra minister of Technical and Higher Education, joined the rebel faction in Guwahati on Sunday. Politically, both sides have not yet moved from their positions, with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray suggesting the rebels use their 'own fathers' name to procure votes'. Aaditya Thackeray, meanwhile, said that the party's doors were open for those 'who want to leave' and 'who want to return'.

On the other side, rebel leader Eknath Shinde held a meeting with all dissident MLAs this afternoon, which is expected to draw out further strategies for the group. This came after Shinde was reported to have met BJP leader and former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis as well as Union Home Minister Amit Shah late on Saturday night in Vadodara.

Following are the top developments in this political crisis:

1. Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde on Sunday tweeted out, saying the dissident MLAs were prepared to die if they had to in order to "follow the ideology of Hindutva".
2. Shinde has approached the Supreme Court opposing disqualification notices issued by the Dy Speaker against rebel Maharashtra MLAs. The petition in SC also challenges the appointment of Ajay Chaudhary as leader of Sena's Legislative Party.
3. The Central Government on Sunday provided Y+ security detail to 15 of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs residing in Guwahati. The 15 in question are: Ramesh Bornare, Mangesh Kudalkar, Sanjay Shirsat, Latabai Sonawane, Prakas Surve, Sadanand Saranavnkar, Yogesh Dada Kadam, Pratap Sarnaik, Yamini Jadhav, Pradeep Jaiswal, Sanjay Rathod, Dadaji Bhuse, Dilip Lande, Balaji Kalyanar and Sandipan Bhumare.
4. Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray has said that the party's doors were open to "those who want to leave and those who want to return to the party", noting at the same time that the rebels would not be "taken back into the party", according to news agency ANI.
5. Uday Samant, the Maharashtra Minister of Technical and Higher Education, has joined the Eknath Shinde-led faction in Guwahati.
6. Shiv Sena worker-supporters took to the streets in Maharashtra's Nagpur on Sunday in protest against the rebel faction currently camping in Guwahati, led by MLA Eknath Shinde.
7. Uddhav Thackeray's wife Rashmi Thackeray has adapted an emotional appeal as her weapon of choice to save the Shiv Sena government from collapsing. She is reportedly in touch with the wives of some of the Shiv Sena MLAs appealing to them to hold on to the party. Moreover, it is speculated that she is also in touch with the wives of some of the MLAs from the rebel group.
8. In a shrewd comment, CM Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said that the rebel MLA s should 'stop using Shiv Sena's name and should instead use their own fathers' names to procure votes.' The comment came after the rebel group led by Shinde declared that his troop would rather be called Shiv Sena (Balasaheb) -- clarifying that they are not leaving the Sena. This also attracted a total of 6 resolutions from the Thackeray-led faction, wherein they warned of legal action against people using Balasaheb Thackeray's name during the National Executive meeting held on Saturday.
9. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut meanwhile took a dig at the MLAs lodged in the Guwahati hotel through a satirical tweet. "How long will you stay in Guwahati? You will have to come back someday to Chowpatty," read his tweet referring to a Mumbai locality, a couplet in Hindi along with a spruce photo of Assembly Vice President Narhari Jirwal, who has recently sent a notice of disqualification to 16 of the rebel MLAs. CM Uddhav Thackeray's son -- Aditya Thackeray -- on Saturday posed an open challenge for the rebel MLAs asking them to 'leave Shiv Sena and then contest the elections'.
10. The leading rebel MLA Eknath Shinde and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had a secret meeting in Vadodara late at night on Saturday. Shinde flew from Guwahati to Vadodara alone on a special flight at midnight and returned four hours later after the meeting. Sources also confirmed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also in Vadodara last night. Fadnavis has called a meeting of senior leaders this afternoon.
11. Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday reached out to CM Uddhav Thackeray over a call and reportedly reassured that Uddhav's faction has full support from the Congress in this situation of political disarray. Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath had also earlier expressed his full support to Thackeray in addition to 44 Congress MLAs.
12. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar called a meeting with Congress leaders at his residence this morning. Among the prominent people present here were Balasaheb Thorat, Ashok Chavhan, and Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai. Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde has called a meeting of MLAs camping with him at a hotel in Assam's Guwahati on Sunday at 12 pm, seemingly to discuss the strategy ahead.
13. MLA Ramesh Bornare, one of the rebel MLAs on Eknath Shinde's team currently lodged in the Guwahati hotel, on Saturday sought help from Shiv Sena leader Chandrakant Khaire over a phone call. The MLA reportedly requested Khaire to be a mediator between CM Uddhav Thackeray and the rebel group in order to arrive at a solution. Khaire agreed to do so. On the other hand, Eknath Shinde loyalist Naresh Mhaske filed his resignation as Thane district president of Shiv Sena in protest against the "attitude" of MVA constituent NCP. However, he stressed that he shall always remain a Shivsainik.
14. Meanwhile, several Shiv Sena workers staged protests against the rebel MLAs in Mumbai and Pune. While Pune witnessed a 'joote maro andolan' against rebel group with party supporters shouting slogans against Shinde and his troop, Shivsainiks in Mumbai held a bike rally to demonstrate their protests outside the Saamana office in Mumbai.
15. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday equated the ongoing political turmoil in Maharashtra with the "dance of monkeys" and said he is keeping an eye on the "unfolding drama".