Gujarat's Surat may well become the centre of a political earthquake that is likely to topple the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.
The disgruntled rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and 21 Sena MLAs are camped at Hotel Le Meridian in Surat. Interestingly, the rooms in this hotel were booked on June 20 evening only.
Sources said that Gujarat BJP unit CR Patil is the key person behind the rebellion of Shinde against Uddhav Thackeray.
“Patil has been in touch with Shinde for a long time to carry out 'Operation Lotus' in Maharashtra. Patil who hails from Jalgaon is in touch with some of the Sena MLAs as well. These MLAs include Chimanrao Patil from Parola, and Kishor Patil from Pachora, who belong to the Maratha community. This link helped Patil to connect with Shinde and other disgruntled MLAs of Sena. It was planned ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections and Maharashtra state legislative council elections by transferring Shiv Sena votes to BJP,” said a source who requested anonymity.
Interestingly, after the arrival of Shinde and his supporter MLAs, Patil cancelled all his scheduled meetings. He was in Ahmedabad and then he rushed to Surat. Besides, Gujarat police also deployed heavy security to the hotel where Sena MLAs are camped.
One of the rebels Shiv Sena MLAs said that he has been promised a cabinet post in the new government. He said in the Thackeray government, he was the senior-most but was still neglected.
A senior Shiv Sena leader said that party leaders and MLAs who are under the scanner of Central agencies encouraged Shinde to take this step against the Shiv Sena leadership and form government with BJP.
Sources also said that Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik and former chairman of BMC standing committee Yashwant Jadhav were in Delhi to coordinate with BJP leaders and Shinde.
Explaining a plausible cause behind the rebellion, a source who requested anonymity “The communication gap between rural MLAs and urban MLAs of Sena increased. The power was concentrated with urban faces that annoyed rural Sena MLAs. Besides, Uddhav Thackeray was not easily approachable and accessible. During fund allocations, NCP leader Ajit Pawar dominated decision-making which did not go well with Sena MLAs."