Amidst the political crisis in Maharashtra, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who came to Raj Bhavan after discharged from the hospital following his recovery of pandemic, has gone on action mode and asked the state Director General of Police (DGP) Rajnish Sheth to provide security to the Shiv Sena rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde and their families on an immediate basis.
In the letter to Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, he informed that he has issued directions to the State Police to provide adequate police protection to the MLAS, their families and homes on an immediate basis. Despite this, offices and homes of some of the MLAs have been vandalised with the police being a mute spectator.
He requested the Home Secretary to make adequate provision of Central Security Forces in case required, to address the situation. Koshyari’ s move came when Shinde had alleged ‘’malicious’ withdrawal of the police security of rebel families. However, the state home minister Dilip Walse-Patil had refuted Shinde’s allegation claiming it false and baseless. He further clarified that neither the Chief Minister nor the home department had issued any instructions on the withdrawal of security cover.
A statement issued by the Raj Bhavan said the governor returned to his official residence after remaining hospitalized for four days.
"Got discharged from the Hospital after four days. I am perfectly fine; however, I have been advised to rest for a couple of days," the governor's message read.
Maharashtra is currently witnessing a political crisis after Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against his own party, setting off hectic political activities in the state. Majority of the Sena legislators have sided with Shinde and joined him in Guwahati, where all of them are currently camping.
Their rebellion has pushed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to the brink of collapse. NCP and Congress are also part of the ruling combine.
Meanwhile, authoritative sources said that the Centre may accord ‘’Y’’ plus security to rebel Shiv Sena MLAs and their families amid reports of Shiv Sena workers vandalizing offices and properties of Sena MLAs in the Shinde camp.However, rebel leader Eknath Shinde may not be included in the security cover list. ‘Y' category security consists of eight personnel which may include one or two commandos and police personnel.
