Amid the present political crisis after the coup staged by veteran Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde and 38 others challenging the leadership of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the supporters of rebels and Shiv Sena are staging protests against each other.
On Monday, rebel MLA and Minister of State Rajendra Patil Yadravkar supporters and Shiv Sena supporters confronted each other at Jaysingpur in Kolhapur district. Police detained workers after the situation got tense. Yedravkar is currently camping in Guwahati along with other rebel legislators.
‘’The supporters of rebel Maharashtra minister Rajendra Patil-Yadravkar, who is camping with the Eknath Shinde-led group in Guwahati, and some Shiv Sena workers came face to face with each other in Kolhapur district on Monday. However, police intervened and tried to keep the two groups away from each other to avoid a clash,’’ a senior police official said.
The supporters of Yadravkar, an independent MLA from Shirol in Kolhapur, came out to back him in Jaysingpur town, one of the supporters said.
A group of Shiv Sena workers also tried to stage a protest near the spot.
Kolhapur Superintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawade said that Yadravkar had supporters gathered outside the MLA's office.
The police stopped the Shiv Sena workers, who were approaching the spot, about 200 metres away, he said.
"Heavy security has been deployed. The police are ensuring the two sides do not clash," Balkawade said.
On Sunday, the supporters of minister of state Abdul Sattar in Sillod, Aurangabad and Shiv Sena supporters came face to face and shouted slogans against each other.
Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari had already asked the state director general of police to provide adequate security to families of rebel MLAs. He also wrote to the Union Home Secretary to make adequate provision of central security forces. Governor stepped in after Shinde had alleged malicious withdrawal of security cover of families of rebel MLAs. However, home minister Dilip Walse-Patil has denied it saying that the allegation was false and baseless.
