12 out of 15 state unit chiefs of Shiv Sena have joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp, giving a big blow to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.Delhi Shiv Sena state chief Sandeep Chaudhary, Manipur chief Tombi Singh, Madhya Pradesh chief Thadeshwar Mahawar, Chhattisgarh chief Dhananjay Parihar, Gujarat chief S.R.Patil, Rajasthan chief Lakhan Singh Pawar, Hyderabad chief Murari Anna, Goa chief Jitesh Kamat, Karnataka chief Kumar A Hakari, West Bengalchief Shanti Dutta, Odisha state in-charge Jyotishri Prasanna Kumar, Tripura state in-charge Barivadev Nath extended their support to Eknath Shinde.
Notably, this development comes a week ahead of the Supreme Court's hearing on the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction's application seeking to restrain the Election Commission from deciding on the claim of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led group over the "original" Shiv Sena party.Eknath Shinde and his rebellion led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra. On June 30, Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Devendra Fadnavis as the Deputy Chief Minister, the rest of the ministers are yet to be sworn in. This had created quite a buzz in the camp as sources suggest that several rebel leaders from Shinde's camp can be appointed as ministers. On the other hand, as the new government is soon to be formed, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has filed a petition seeking disqualification of Shinde and 15 MLAs of his faction.