Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs being taken to Assam in special flight: Sources

Over a dozen Shiv Sena MLAs, who have rebelled against the party bringing a crisis to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, are being taken to Assam and expected to reach Guwahati early Wednesday, sources said.

Around 15 MLAs, who were lodged in a hotel in Gujarat's Surat, are being taken to Assam in a special flight.

The special flight is expected to land Guwahati early Wednesday, the sources said.

Assam is currently ruled by a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.

The move came after Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party and herded some MLAs to BJP-ruled Gujarat.

Top leadership of Assam BJP and the state government are believed to have been making arrangements for the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs' accommodation in Guwahati.

The Maharashtra MLAs are likely to stay in Guwahati's Radisson hotel, the sources said.

This is perhaps for the first time that MLAs from a western Indian state is being taken to a northeastern state after their rebellion against the party leadership.

Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed 14 to 15 Sena MLAs, including some ministers, are with Shinde in Surat city.

However, another party leader said the number could be 23.

The Shiv Sena, which heads the MVA government, has 55 MLAs, followed by allies Nationalist Congress Party (53) and the Congress (44) in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly where the current simple majority mark is 144.