New Delhi: Rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena who have been camping in Assam’s Guwahati since the last week have made a donation of rupees 51 lakh to the Assam Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for relief work in flood hit North Eastern state, said their spokesperson, reported news agency 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," spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar told the news agency.
The Eknath Shinde faction which turned rebel against their party and have been arriving in Guwahati in several batches staying in a luxury hotel were criticised for doing so at a time when the state has been grappling with severe floods.
Kesarkar further said that as Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked 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.
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Quoting a close aide of Shinde as saying the news agency reported that the group will be staying in a Goa-based hotel and reach Mumbai by 9.30 am on Thursday.
"We will be staying at a place that is one hour air distance away from Mumbai, so 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," Kesarkar said.
Expressing disappointment with Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, he said the party MLAs had been asking him to move away from the NCP and Congress (allies in the government), but he never listened to them.
"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 said.