Guwahati News Desk: A group of MLAs from Maharashtra, led by rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, arrived at Guwahati in Assam, leaving CM Uddhav Thackeray in a fix.
As the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government in Maharashtra confronts a major political crisis, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that the state needs more people to visit and stay in their hotels so that they can have more revenue to tackle with the floods. This came after a group of Maharashtra MLAs, led by rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, arrived at Guwahati in Assam on Wednesday morning.
Speaking to the media, the Assam CM said, “Guwahati has many good hotels, Radisson is there, Taj is there, people should come here so that the business increases. If a person lives in a hotel here, we will get GST, and revenue, so even if Guwahati becomes the political epicentre of world politics, I’ll be happy. I only want my hotels to be booked completely. It’s now that we need money. If the State is empty at this point how will we be able to tackle floods.”
As far as the Assam floods situation is concerned, there has been no relief across the flood-hit areas, especially in the western and southern parts of Assam.
As per the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), six people died in the last 24 hours, taking the flood-and-landslip death toll to 88. An ASDMA spokesperson said that so far, 53.94 lakh people have been affected in 31 districts across 5,123 villages, and crops in 108,030.98 hectares have been damaged.
Maharashtra political crisis
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is running out of options with its numbers slipping below the majority mark. Post the MLC elections, an exodus has been triggered in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena with rebel senior politician and Minister Eknath Shinde leading the faction.
Sources have revealed that the Shiv Sainik, a staunch follower of late patriarch Balasaheb Thackeray, is upset over the party’s coalition with ideologically different Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress. The leader has sought for Shiv Sena to return to its ‘natural ally’ BJP, and ‘not compromise on Hindutva’.
After bringing his flock to Surat, Eknath Shinde with at least 38-40 MLAs has reached Guwahati’s Raddison Blu hotel in Assam. Speaking at the Surat airport before departing for Guwahati, the Maharashtra Minister remarked, “We are Balasaheb’s Shiv Sainiks. We have not left Shiv Sena and we will not leave Shiv Sena. But we are going to do the politics based on Balasaheb’s ideology.” As per the anti-defection law, at least 37 Shiv Sena MLAs need to rebel to avoid the possibility of disqualification.
On the other hand, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar is set to meet all party MLAs, who have been asked to stay put in Mumbai. Shiv Sena has lodged 12 MLAs at St Regis in Mumbai. On the other hand, Congress has flown in former MP CM and senior leader Kamal Nath to reign in the crisis.
source: Republic Tv