Maharashtra political crisis: Rebel Sena MLAs donate Rs 51 lakh for Assam flood relief

Eknath Shinde. File Pic

Amid criticism that the Sena dissidents were staying at a luxury hotel in Guwahati even as parts of Assam were grappling with severe floods, Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief work in the state.

Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of the rebel MLAs told PTI, "Shinde has donated Rs 51 lakh to the Assam Chief Minister's Relief Fund as our contribution to their ongoing rescue work. We cannot ignore the plight of people here."

Kesarkar added that with Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari asking the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to face a floor test on Thursday, the rebel MLAs have decided to move out of Guwahati and shift to a place near Mumbai.

Kesarkar said, "We will be staying at a place that is one hour air distance from Mumbai, so that that we can comfortably reach the state capital for the floor test. The decision (of floor test) will be what we have been demanding for a long time from our leadership."

"As majority of Shiv Sena MLAs decided to go away from these two parties, the remaining Sena legislators with him (Thackeray) will have to abide by our whip at the time of the floor test," Kesarkar told PTI.

The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, who have been camping here for last one week, are likely to leave for Goa this afternoon, en route Mumbai.

The 39 rebel Shiva Sena MLAs and some independent MLAs are going to travel together in one aircraft to Goa and from there they are likely to travel to Mumbai.

(With inputs from PTI)