Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Deepak Kesarkar on Saturday said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray must accept that his faction has "lost majority" while also adding that he should have "respected democracy" after winning the 2019 Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP.
Speaking exclusively toover the phone, Kesarkar said, "We had been in alliance with BJP for 35 years and we won elections as an alliance so we must respect the democracy. Uddhav Thackeray must accept that his party lost majority, that's called democracy."
Eknath Shinde claims to have the support of 38 MLAs of the 55 Shiv Sena legislators, which is more than two-thirds of the party's strength in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. It means that they can either leave and form another political party or merge with another without being disqualified from the state assembly.
The rebel MLA also informed that the Shinde faction has decided to name their group 'Shiv Sena Balasaheb'.
"We have decided to form a new group named Shiv Sena Balasaheb. We will carry this group name in future. We will have our office at Vidhan Bhavan under the name of the newly formed group," he said.
Asked about the timeline for the registration of their group, he said that the newly elected leader Eknath Shinde will decide on the matter.
"This decision will be taken by Eknath Shinde, he is our leader and he will decide on it," Kesarkar said.
Referring to the vandalism of rebel MLAs' offices in parts of Maharashtra, he demanded action against the violence and asked the Chief Minister to "control his Shiv Sainiks".
"CM Uddhav Thackeray must take action on the recent violent incidents happening on our MLAs (lodged in Guwahati) or with Eknath Shinde. He must control his Shiv Sainiks, being the CM it's his responsibility. Law and order must not be taken in hand by anyone," he said.
Kesarkar went ahead to slam NCP chief Sharad Pawar who has extended support to the Uddhav faction amid the political turmoil, and said that he wants to "finish the Shiv Sena".
"It's the NCP who wants to finish Shiv Sena. We have been suffering this for past more than two years but it's enough now. The one who tried to finish us, CM Uddhav has joined hands with him," he said.
Speaking on the issue of the notices being served to the 16 rebel MLAs from the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, he said that it is a "mockery of democracy".
"It's a mockery of democracy. We have the right to form a new group, and sending notices are pressure tactics," he said.
"We will soon decide when to come to Mumbai and the next course of action," Kesarkar added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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