As the fissures within Shiv Sena deepen, four more MLAs from the party have touched down in Guwahati on Wednesday night. The rebel group-initially numbering 39 legislators, including 7 independents- had arrived at the North-Eastern city on Wednesday via a special aircraft from Surat. Led by Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, the faction threatens the legitimacy of Maharashtra’s coalition government and Uddhav Thackeray’s future within the Shiv Sena. With the Chief Minister vacating his official residence, the crisis is accelerating fast.

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With four more MLAs joining the camp, the numbers in the rebel camp continue to swell. Housed at a luxury hotel on the city’s outskirts, Eknath Shinde sounded confident of returning Shiv Sena to its Hindutva ideals:

“Thirty-nine MLAs accompanied me. We are loyal to Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology of ‘Hindutva’ and we are keen to take it forward,” quotes the DNA.

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The spate of defections from the party- now numbering 46- has the makings of undoing the present government. With 113 MLAs in the assembly, BJP is in line to take over the reins if Thackeray loses a no-confidence motion. Given that the hardliners have clearly stated their wish to align with the BJP, rejecting Shiv Sena’s alliance with the Congress and NCP, the saffron tide looks to engineer a bloodless coup against their once-close aide. While the Anti-Defection law guarantees certain safeguards against such a happening, the two-thirds rule allows defectors to move from one party to another without facing a penalty. The Sena has 55 MLAs in the present assembly, requiring at least 38 defectors for the Anti-Defection law to not apply to the rebel group.

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Their numbers well over the required 38, the defectors are likely to precipitate one of two possibilities. The first involves BJP establishing a government of their own with the backing of rebel legislators. The second involves the dissolution of the present assembly, with elections being called to determine the composition of the new assembly.