Eknath Shinde is the most powerful Shiv Sena leader after the Thackerays
The Maharashtra coalition drama played out at a five-star hotel in Gujarat's Surat this evening, hours after Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde checked in along with 21 other MLAs, endangering the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition.
Eknath Shinde reportedly took off from Mumbai late last night after being reprimanded by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray - his party boss - over the Legislative Council election, in which the Shiv Sena lost a seat to the BJP allegedly because of cross voting.
Uddhav Thackeray acted against Mr Shinde by removing him from a party post but soon after, reached out to the rebel leader by sending two of his closest associates, Milind Narvekar and Ravindra Phatak, to the Surat hotel.
After a nearly two-hour meeting, Mr Narvekar and Mr Phatak left for Mumbai by road without taking media questions.
Seconds after the two Sena leaders had entered the hotel Meridien to speak with Mr Shinde, a BJP leader, Sanjay Kute, also arrived for similar discussions.
Mr Kute is close to former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is believed to have played a big role in setting up the crisis for the Maharashtra government.
The Gujarat police sealed the hotel, which was virtually taken over by the Sena MLAs from Mumbai.
Mr Shinde needs 37 MLAs to claim a two-third majority to split the Shiv Sena and avoid any action under the anti-defection law. Sources close to him claim he is just short of the number.
Mr Shinde is the most powerful Shiv Sena leader after the Thackerays.
The Sena has 55 MLAs, of which at least 21 are with Mr Shinde. Sources close to Mr Shinde claim he has more MLAs supporting him.
If the Shiv Sena splits, the Maharashtra government will fall.
In a tweet, Mr Shinde referenced Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and said: "We are Balasaheb's staunch Shiv Sainiks. Balasaheb has taught us Hindutva. We have never and will never cheat for power when it comes to Babasaheb's thoughts and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe Saheb's teachings."
Shiv Sena sources told NDTV the party will not be blackmailed into giving him Mr Shinde a position like Chief Minister or Deputy Chief Minister to win him back.
The crisis erupted a day after the Legislative Council elections held for 10 seats. The BJP won all five seats it had contested though it had votes to win only four, apparently because of cross-voting by some MLAs of the ruling coalition.
The NCP and Shiv Sena won two seats each contested by them. Another ruling ally, Congress, suffered a jolt as the party lost one of its two candidates to BJP's fifth candidate.