Rebel Shiv Sena MLA complains about another leader of Eknath Shinde group, audio clip goes viral

MUMBAI: An audio clip of a rebel Shiv Sena MLA complaining about Gulabrao Patil, former minister and another legislator in the Eknath Shinde camp, went viral on social media on Thursday.

In the nearly seven-minute-long audio clip, Chimanrao Patil, MLA from Arandol in Jalgaon district, claimed that Gulabrao, who hails from the same district, worked for his defeat in 2014.

When contacted, Chimanrao confirmed the authenticity of the conversation.

Both the leaders were part of the group of some 40 Sena MLAs who supported Eknath Shinde when he rebelled and brought down the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government last month.

In the phone call with a party worker which was apparently recorded, Chimanrao Patil is heard saying that he got tired of complaining about the trouble he faced in his constituency to the Sena leadership but to no avail, and he did not get funds for his constituency either.

""I had personally told Uddhav saheb (Thackeray) that I am facing a lot of problems. He (Gulabrao) worked for my defeat in 2014 (Assembly polls), still he was made a minister,"" Chimanrao is heard saying.

"The clip is authentic and I have expressed my feelings since the party worker (at the other end) too was talking very fervently. I just stated the facts,"" he told PTI when contacted.

Meanwhile, rebel MLA Sanjay Shirsat on Thursday revealed dissident group members close to Eknath Shinde left for Surat from Mumbai last month without luggage or even additional clothes and initially did not know where they were headed.

Shirsat said the rebel MLAs accompanying Shinde got new clothes after reaching Surat, where they were lodged in a luxury hotel, on June 21.

The revolt by a section of Sena MLAs, led by Shinde -- now the chief minister of Maharashtra -- subsequently brought down the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The dissident group later left for Guwahati from Surat and also stayed in Goa before coming back to Mumbai after Chief Minister Shinde took oath on June 30 along with his deputy Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP.

"The MLAs who went to Surat before leaving for Guwahati didn't have enough clothes. When we told about this to Eknath Shinde, literally a cloth shop was set up in the hotel in Surat. There we got new clothes," he told reporters in Aurangabad.

After the revolt, the MLA from Aurangabad (West) wrote a letter to Shiv Sena president and then-CM Uddhav Thackeray, explaining the reasons behind dissident legislators turning against the leadership of the saffron party.

Shirsat said initially the rebel MLAs did not know where they were headed and just went along their leader Shinde without luggage.

"We were completely unaware about where we were going. But when Eknath Shinde told us to come with him, we all didn't ask anything. Just accompanied him. We reached around 2 am in a Surat hotel (on June 21). But none of the MLAs had brought clothes with them," he said.

They approached Shinde and everything fell in place immediately, the MLA said.

"'We told about this to Eknath Shinde. Then, very next morning a vehicles full of clothes came in the hotel. It was like a cloth shop has come up in the hotel. There everyone took clothes of their choice. Not only clothes, material needed for shaving and footwears were also made available to us in the Surat hotel," Shirsat said.

"But Eknath Shinde didn't get the clothes of the pattern he wanted. Shinde's clothes came from Thane to Surat later," he added.

Thane is the political home of Shinde, who is an MLA from the city adjoining Mumbai.