Rebel MLAs have no right to sit in the Assembly, says Aaditya Thackeray

Dubbing the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and the BJP as a government of traitors, Sena leader and MLA Aaditya Thackeray said the 40 rebel MLAs of the Shinde camp had no right to sit in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Thackeray, who was at the forefront of the protests against the ruling government on the opening day of the Monsoon Session of the Legislature, jeered at the rebel MLAs outside the Assembly by raising slogans that they had “sold out.”

Later, Mr. Thackeray reached Raigad to kickstart the third leg of his cadre outreach campaign, ‘the Shiv Samvad Yatra’. Addressing rallies in the constituencies of two rebel MLAs, the junior Thackeray lashed out at the BJP-Sena government.

“It took them 41 days to carry out a Cabinet expansion. And then, in the portfolio allocation, this Cabinet has no representation from Mumbai and no woman minister. The rebel leaders are only thinking about themselves. No one is concerned about the plight of rain-hit farmers,” he said.

Remarking that the ‘traitors’ (rebel Sena MLAs) had shown that loyalty had no place in a government, Mr. Thackeray questioned as to what the Shinde faction had gained by their revolt while stating that many who were already ministers in the erstwhile MVA government, became ministers, albeit at lesser posts, in the new Cabinet.

“Several of them who had first joined the rebellion have not got anything. So, what was the point of all this,” he said, adding that the public would show these traitors their place in the upcoming elections.

He reiterated that the Shinde-Fadnavis government was “illicit,” “unconstitutional” and that its collapse was imminent.

In a retort to Mr. Thackeray, the Shinde camp meanwhile alleged that a majority of those who attended his rallies were “paid“ to swell numbers.

“No one is concerned about the plight of rain-hit farmers”Aaditya ThackeraySena leader and MLA