“Coterie kept us away from Varsha for 2.5 years”, rebel MLA writes to Uddhav Thackeray

Aurangabad: Shiv Sena rebel MLA Sanjay Shirsat has told Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that a "coterie" kept the party MLAs from having access to Thackeray, forcing them to turn to Eknath Shinde for leadership.

The Aurangabad West legislator said this in an open letter to Thackeray which was also put on the social media by Shinde, who is now campaign in Assam along with some 30 disgruntled Sena MLAs.

Shirsat alleged that though the Shiv Sena was in power, a coterie around Thackeray never allowed them access to 'Varsha', the Chief Minister's official residence.

Shirsat said that Shinde took the step of going against the party leadership as Sena MLAs persuaded him to do so after facing "humiliation" for the last two-and-a-half years.

Shinde also posted the same letter on his Twitter handle, saying these were the sentiments of the Sena MLAs.

The revolt led by Shinde has put the Sena-led Maharashtra government into a crisis.

''Only Shinde heard us out and took steps to resolve all the problems," the MLA said. "The MLAs persuaded Shinde to take this step (revolt) for the rights of all the legislators." (UNI)