On Thursday, legislators from the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde displayed a banner criticizing former minister Aaditya Thackeray on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan.
In response, Mr. Thackeray shouted a chant that implied Shinde faction MLAs had been paid to change their allegiance, which had led to the fall of the Sena, NCP, and Congress coalition government headed by Mr. Thackeray.
On the step of the Vidhan Bhavan, where the state legislative session is now taking place, legislators from the Shinde group hoisted banners with the message: “Yuvrajanchi disha chukli.”
According to MLA Bharat Gogawale, lawmakers from the Shinde group would not sit with their hands folded if they were continuously attacked.
Bharat Gogawale, an MLA, said, “We will reply.”
On the other hand, Aaditya Thackeray and a few Congress and NCP leaders sang chants calling for the declaration of a “wet drought” in Maharashtra to aid farmers who lost their standing crops due to recent heavy rains and flooding.
READ MORE: Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa Gets A Threat Letter, Files Police Complaint
The term “50 khoke…chidle boke” (50 boxes…angry cats) was also shouted by Aaditya Thackeray, suggesting that 50 MLAs had received funding to rebel against the party headed by his father, Uddhav Thackeray.
He may have also been alluding to the altercation that broke out between members of the government and opposition parties on the grounds of Vidhan Bhavan on Wednesday.
After several MLAs staged a coup, Aaditya Thackeray traveled to the state to win over the party apparatus.
He had singled out the Shinde lawmakers, branding them “traitors.”
