Maharashtra Political Stir: High Alert Issued After Dissident MLA's Office Vandalised In Pune | WATCH

One of the Shiv Sena dissident MLAs, Sawant is now camped out in Guwahati, Assam, with the Eknath Shinde group.

Shiv Sena workers vandalise office of the party's MLA Tanaji Sawant in Balaji area of Katraj, Pune.

New Delhi: Amid growing political unrest in the state, Shiv Sena members on Saturday trashed the office of renegade party MLA Tanaji Sawant in Pune, news agency ANI reported.

One of the Shiv Sena dissident MLAs, Sawant is now camped out in Guwahati, Assam, with the Eknath Shinde group.

#WATCH | Shiv Sena workers vandalise office of the party's MLA Tanaji Sawant in Balaji area of Katraj, Pune. Sawant is one of the rebel MLAs from the state and is currently camping in Guwahati, Assam. #MaharashtraPoliticalCrisis pic.twitter.com/LXRSLPxYJC

— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2022

In the Balaji neighbourhood of Katraj in Pune, Shiv Sena members reportedly vandalised Sawant's workplace.

Pune Police then issued a warning and sent orders to all police stations to provide protection at Shiv Sena officials' offices in the city.

“Our party workers vandalised Tanaji Sawant’s office. All traitors and rebel MLAs who have troubled our chief Uddhav Thackeray will face this type of action. Their office will also be attacked. No one will be spared,” Sanjay More, Shiv Sena Pune city head was quoted by ANI in its report.

Additionally, Mumbai Police issued a high alert and ordered all police stations to provide protection at all of the city's political offices. To protect their safety, it has been ordered that officer-level police personnel visit each political office.

Eknath Shinde, a state cabinet minister and dissident Shiv Sena politician, wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday over the alleged "malicious" removal of security from the families of the 38 MLAs who were camping with him at a Guwahati hotel.

Shinde said that the protection provided to the MLAs at their house and to their family members in accordance with protocol had been illegally and unjustly removed as retaliation in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and State Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil.

Shinde claimed that security had been withdrawn, but Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil denied this.

“Neither the Chief Minister nor the Home Department has ordered the withdrawal of security of any MLA. The allegations being levelled through Twitter are false and completely baseless,” Patil said. 

Beginning on June 22, Shinde will campaign at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, the capital of BJP-ruled Assam, alongside 38 members of his party and nine independent MLAs.

Notably, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has scheduled the party's national executive committee meeting for this coming Saturday. The Chief Minister will virtually attend the meeting, which will take place in Shiv Sena Bhavan.

Additionally, according to insiders, Shinde has scheduled a meeting for Saturday afternoon at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati to discuss additional strategies.

After the Uddhav Thackeray camp asked the deputy speaker to dismiss the dissident MLAs, the Eknath Shinde faction served notice of a no-confidence vote against him earlier on Friday.

(With ANI Inputs)