Maharashtra political crisis: 'Eknath Shinde will form government with BJP,' says Ramdas Athawale

Amid the ongoing crisis in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, Union Minister and Republican Party of India president Ramdas Athawale on Friday said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's time is up and Shiv Sena's rebel MLA Eknath Shinde will form government will the BJP."Uddhav Thackeray's time is up. Most MLAs will go with Eknath Shinde (rebel Shiv Sena MLA) and he will form government with BJP," Athawale told ANI.This comes ahead of the meeting called by Shiv Sena of the party leaders including district presidents and chief district coordinators as a confidence-building measure. The meeting will be chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at Shiv Sena Bhawan in Mumbai at 12 pm.

Earlier, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, "Eknath Shinde faction that's challenging us must realise that Shiv Sena workers are yet to come on the roads. Such battles are fought either through law or on the roads. If need be then our workers would come on the roads."Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde is appearing to be holding a tight grip on the Shiv Sena, as the strength of MLAs supporting him is expected to cross 50 as more legislators are likely to reach Guwahati on Friday thus further deepening the political crisis in Maharashtra. The situation for Thackeray continues to become grimmer with his close aide switching sides and the chief minister himself falling short of numbers.Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray has filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker of the state Assembly seeking the cancellation of membership of 12 rebel MLAs including Eknath Shinde for "not attending" the legislative party meeting held on Wednesday.