NCP to observe June 20 as 'traitors' day' to mark Shiv Sena rebellion

The NCP will observe June 20 as "gaddar day" (traitors' day) to mark the first anniversary of the rebellion in Shiv Sena which was led by Eknath Shinde and culminated in the collapse of the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government in June 2022.

The MVA comprises Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), NCP, and Congress.

State Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Jayant Patil has asked the party cadres to protest against the rebel MLA of Shiv Sena.

"NCP workers should organise protests in the nook and corner of the state by displaying symbolic 'khoke' (boxes of money) based on which the Eknath Shinde government has come to power," he said on Saturday.

Patil appealed to NCP workers to tell people that the temporary happiness of the Shinde camp, which was recognised by the Election Commission as real Shiv Sena, is on the wane and their days in government are numbered.

The Sharad Pawar-led party had earlier organised public meetings explaining the Supreme Court verdict on the political crisis in Maharashtra and how speaker Rahul Narvekar is duty-bound to disqualify 16 rebel MLAs.

The Supreme Court last month ruled that then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari was not justified in calling upon then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove a majority in the Assembly on June 30, 2022. A constitutional bench had also observed that it cannot restore the Thackeray government as he resigned without facing a floor test.

On June 20, 2022, Shinde and some MLAs of Shiv Sena (undivided) reached a hotel in Surat, hours after Maharashtra Legislative Council polls saw the BJP winning a fifth seat despite not having enough numbers in the Assembly.

After the Council poll results, Shinde went incommunicado and later it came to light he is camping in the hotel along with some party MLAs. The number later swelled and MLAs loyal to Shinde were flown to Guwahati.

Shinde and other MLAs returned to Mumbai on June 29 after Uddhav Thackeray resigned as the chief minister without facing the floor test.

It emerged later that Shinde has the support of 39 out of 56 MLAs of Shiv Sena, which is headed by Uddhav Thackeray.

Later, Shinde took oath as the chief minister and Devendra Fadnavis of BJP as his deputy on June 30.