Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs Donate Rs 51 Lakh For Assam Flood Relief

Guwahati: The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief work in Assam.

The Sena dissidents had earlier received heavy backlash from the Congress party, the principle opposition party in Assam. 

The Grand Old Party criticized the rebels by saying that at a time when some parts of Assam were ravaged by severe floods, the Maharashtra legislators were camping at a luxury hotel in Guwahati.

APCC President Bhupen Borah alleged that the turn of events has resulted in a major distraction as the focus shifted towards the Shiv Sena MLAs, thereby leading to the neglect of the devastating flood situation in Assam.

However, Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of the rebel MLAs, came to their defence by saying that Eknath Shinde has donated Rs 51 lakh to the Assam Chief Minister's Relief Fund to contribute to the ongoing rescue work and added that the plight of the affected people cannot be ignored. 

Kesarkar further said that the rebel MLAs have decided to move out of Guwahati and shift to a place near Mumbai on June 29 as Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to face a floor test on June 30.

Meanwhile, a close aide of Shinde said that the group will be camping in a hotel in Goa and reach Mumbai by 9.30 am on June 30.

"We will be staying at a place that is one-hour air distance from Mumbai, so that that we can comfortably reach the state capital for the floor test. The decision (of floor test) will be what we have been demanding for a long time from our leadership," Kesarkar added.

The spokesperson revealed that the Shiv Sena MLAs had been urging Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to move away from the NCP and Congress (allies in the government) but it fell on deaf ears and he never listened to them.

As a result of it, the rebel MLAs were utterly disappointed with Uddhav and disapproved of the MVA alliance, or in their words, the ''unholy alliance.''

"As the majority of Shiv Sena MLAs decided to go away from these two parties, the remaining Sena legislators with him (Thackeray) will have to abide by our whip at the time of the floor test," Kesarkar told the media.

Thackeray can definitely issue some instructions, but when we are in the House, we are bound by the Constitution of the country, he concluded.

Also read: Assam Floods: Road washed away in Bajali district

Also watch: