Mumbai(PTI): Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, claiming that state minister Eknath Shinde took the step of going against the party leadership as Sena MLAs, who faced "humilitation" for the last two-and-a-half years, persuaded him to do so.
Shirsat, the MLA from Aurangabad (West) Assembly constituency, in a letter dated June 22, claimed that despite the Shiv Sena being in power and having its own chief minister, the coterie around Thackeray never allowed them access to 'Varsha', the CM's official residence.
There was no question of going to 'Mantralaya', the state secretariat, because the chief minister never came there, he said. The letter was posted by Shinde on his Twitter handle, claiming these were the sentiments of the Sena MLAs.
Shinde is currently camping with some rebel MLAs in Assam's Guwahati city, plunging the Sena-led Maharashtra government into a crisis.
In the letter, Shirsat said Eknath Shinde opened doors for the party MLAs to hear their grievances, issues about development work in their constituencies and related fund, and problems with allies Congress and NCP.
''Only Shinde heard us out and took steps to resolve all the problems. The party MLAs persuaded Shinde to take this step (or revolt) for the rights of all the legislators," Shirsat said in the letter.
While the Shiv Sena legislators had no access to the chief minister, the Congress and NCP, which are the "real opponents" of the Shiv Sena, were getting all the attention, he claimed.
Shirsat also said the party MLAs were not allowed to accompany Maharashtra cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray (the CM's son) to Ayodhya (during his recent visit).
''The Shiv Sena votes did not split in the Rajya Sabha polls, then why so much distrust in us for the Legislative Council polls?" he asked.
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New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a PIL seeking the removal of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal from the post of chief minister following his arrest in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.
A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan refused to comment on the merits of the issue, saying the same fell outside the scope of judicial interference.
"It is for the other wings of the government to examine in accordance with the law," the bench, also comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora, said.
During the hearing, the court asked petitioner Surjit Singh Yadav's counsel to show the legal bar on the continuation of Kejriwal as the chief minister.
"There may be practical difficulties but that is something else. Where is the legal bar?" the court asked.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener, who was arrested on March 21 and subsequently remanded to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody till March 28 by a Delhi court, faces allegations of direct involvement in a conspiracy related to the formulation of the excise policy favouring specific individuals.