Shiv Sena leader and Minister in the State cabinet Eknath Shinde who is reportedly camping at Surat, has garnered support of about 25 Shiv Sena MLAs out of 56, according to the reports.
Shinde and his supporting MLAs are “not reachable” since Monday night and sources in Shiv Sena claimed that he might split the party and support the BJP or join it to form the government.
In the case of Shinde garnering the support of 25 Shiv Sena MLAs, there will be a vertical split in the party and he might join hands with Devendra Fadnavis to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government.
According to media reports, Shinde is in contact with the BJP leadership and Devendra Fadnavis has landed in New Delhi for holding talks with the party high command. Some of the Shiv Sena Ministers in the State cabinet are with Shinde, according to the sources.
BJP has 106 MLAs and support of over dozen independent MLAs. If Shinde joins with Fadnavis, the BJP would comfortably cross the magic figure of 144 to prove majority in the State Assembly .
There is no official communication from Shinde or Shiv Sena on the developments, while the NCP and Congress leaders have summoned their MLAs to connect with the party leadership.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his close confidants are putting up desperate efforts to hold the flock together and save the government. Thackeray is meeting party leaders in Mumbai and will meet MLAs today afternoon.