9th minister joins Shinde's camp

Guwahati: Further deepening the crisis for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, another Maharashtra minister, Uday Samant, on Sunday reached Guwahati and joined the dissident camp of MLAs led by his Cabinet colleague Eknath Shinde. He is the 9th Minister to desert CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Samant, who went incommunicado during the day, reached Guwahati from Surat. He came aboard a chartered flight and landed at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport here along with three others, sources said.

Samant's convoy, escorted by the Assam Police, was seen entering the Radisson Blu Hotel off NH-37.

So far, Maharashtra Cabinet ministers Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sandipan Bhumre, and Ministers of State Shamburaje Desai and Abdul Sattar have joined the rebel camp. Another minister, Bachu Kadu of Prahar Janshakti Party, and an Independent minister from Sena quota, Rajendra Yedravkar, have also been camping with Shinde.

Eknath Shinde's has moved Supreme Court with appeal against disqualification notice. The apex court will hear the plea on Monday. Dissident legislators of Shiv Sena, which heads the ruling coalition, have been camping in Guwahati, around 2,700 km away from Mumbai, since June 22.

The Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat on Saturday issued summonses to 16 of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Shinde, seeking written replies by the evening of June 27 to the complaints seeking their disqualification.