Maharashtra crisis: What comes next for rebel Shiv Sena group?

With time running out, the best option for the Shiv Sena rebels is to seek merger with a political party but for the Eknath Shinde-backed group things would not be that easy.

The rebels were initially planning to name their group as Shiv Sena-Balasaheb Thackeray and get them recognised as a separate group in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

However, they backtracked because Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, "Those who want to get votes should get in their father’s name, not in the name of (Shiv Sena’s) father Balasaheb Thackeray."

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Since the BJP has not yet jumped into the picture - and the rebels too would like to have their identity retained, they are looking for other options.

Among the rebel group - who are camping in Guwahati - includes Omprakash Babarao Kadu alias Bachchu Kadu, who is the founder-President of Prahar Janshakti Party. While Bacchu Kadu is a four-time MLA from Achalpur and Rajkumar Patel from Melghat.

The other option is Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which has one seat in Assembly - Raju Patil, who represents Kalyan-Rural.

Also Read | BJP wants to finish off Shiv Sena as it does not want to share Hindu vote bank: Uddhav Thackeray

Meanwhile, senior counsel Devdutt Kamat met Mumbai South MP Arvind Sawant at the Shiv Sena Bhavan.

“The concept of two-third (to surpass anti-defection law) is only applicable if there is a merger…however, what it appears is that there is no merger," Kamat said.

“Visiting BJP-ruled states, meeting BJP leaders, and attempting to topple govt amounts to a violation by rebels…There were several meetings that were called by Shiv Sena at different times, none of which were attended by them," he added,