Maharashtra crisis updates: Uddhav Thackeray speaks to Eknath Shinde, no breakthrough yet

According to reports, there was no breakthrough in the phone call but Thackeray assured his party workers that Shinde will return soon.

A political crisis is brewing in the Uddhav Thackeray government threatening its majority in the assembly with Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde going missing with about 10 to 13 MLAs since Monday’s legislative council elections.

Shinde, who decamped last night for Surat, along with at least 21 other MLAs, demanded that the Sena restore its alliance with the BJP and rule the state, media reports said.

Thackeray had reportedly asked him to reconsider and return to the party.

Shinde has meanwhile claimed that so far, he has not taken any decision or signed any document and that he has taken this step for the betterment of the party.

Shinde is sheltering at a resort in Surat in Gujarat. Two Sena leaders met him for two hours at the hotel this evening.

Thackeray held an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon where he removed Shinde as Chief Whip, an important party post.

Shinde too has edited his Twitter bio, removing a reference to his Shiv Sena role.

The Shiv Sena has trained its guns on the BJP for the development accusing it of trying to topple the Thackeray government.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut told media persons that the BJP won't succeed since "Shiv Sena is a party of loyalists."

"We won't let that happen," he said as quoted in the media.

Thackeray's government, consisting of three parties- the Sena, the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP - came to power in 2019 and was architected by Pawar.

Amid speculation about his own role and whether he may have played a part in the crisis, Pawar said that the crisis is "an internal matter of the Sena" but added that he remains fully committed to the three-party government.

Thackeray is also scheduled to meet Pawar.

Meanwhile, Sena MLAs have been shifted to a hotel in Mumbai from the Chief Minister's house even as Eknath Shinde decamped last night for Surat, along with at least 21 other MLAs.