Mumbai: It’s not official yet, but the buzz over a bunch of Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs defecting to the Eknath Shinde faction is growing louder by the day.
On Saturday, though, Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared that there is only one Shiv Sena now.
“Earlier, we had to call
the Shiv Sena Shinde faction after (Eknath) Shinde. Now, there is no faction. There is only one Shiv Sena,” said Shah, taking a jibe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and boosting Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s faction.
At least six Lok Sabha MPs are believed to have revolted against the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena (UBT), and are expected to switch sides and back NDA ally Shinde Sena.
Addressing a rally in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, Shah targeted Uddhav and Congress over the issue of infiltrators.
“These Congress leaders and Uddhav ji, who is sitting in the lap of the Congress, want to survive by turning infiltrators into a vote bank. I want to tell them clearly that this country is not a dharmshala (charitable shelter). Only those who belong to this country will live here,” the Union Home minister thundered.
He reiterated that every infiltrator will be identified and expelled from the country.