Mumbai: In a major jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi led Maharashtra government, senior Shivsena leader and urban development minister Eknath Shinde along with 25 MLAs are camping in a luxury Surat hotel. Meanwhile, heavy police bandobast has been installed outside the hotel with restrictions imposed for unauthorised persons.
Sources said they took a chartered flight to the city at 7pm on Monday.
Sources said that first 11 rooms were booked in Le Meridien hotel, and around 9.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday, 11 MLAs arrived in Surat and checked in the hotel.
The other big group led by Shinde reached Surat around 1.30 a.m. with 14 MLAs on Tuesday.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said there is a conspiracy to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government in the "same pattern as in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan". "Shiv Sena is a party of loyalists. We won't let that happen."
"Eknath Shinde was with us at the hotel and was trying to ensure MVA candidate's victory. We cannot say anything till we speak to Sharad Pawar," Raut said.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday won all five seats it contested in the state Legislative Council elections for 10 seats, while Congress candidate and Dalit leader Chandrakant Handore lost, in another setback for the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi after the Rajya Sabha polls earlier this month.