While Maharashtra’s minister Eknath Shinde camps in a hotel in Surat in Gujarat along with a dozen Shiv Sena MLAs, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government is said to be in danger.
The development has sparked frantic talks in the state’s political circles with the ruling alliance partners and the opposition BJP calling emergency meetings to discuss the current scenario.
In the meantime, let’s see how the numbers pile up in Maharashtra’s state assembly and whether the development could actually lead to a major political turnaround in the state:
How numbers pile up
BJP — 106
Shiv Sena — 55
NCP — 53
congress — 44
Independents — 13
Others – 10
Free — 01
‘Others’ are Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (03), SP (02), AIMIM (02), Prahar Janshakti Party (02), CPI-M, MNS, PWP, Swabhimani Party, Rashtriya Samaj Party, Jansurajya Party and Krantikari Shetkari Party.
Given the current situation, a dozen MLAs of Shiv Sena are at Shinde in Gujarat and nine others are said to be joining them.
If all of these (Shinde + 21 MLAs) jump to the BJP, the opposition’s number will rise to 128 in the 288-member Assembly, where the majority is 144. 16 more MLAs are needed to lay claim to the formation of a government.
