As a crisis towered above the Maharashtra landscape today, the Shiv Sena claimed that the developments are a blip that will be resolved before the day is over. But the trouble cannot be wished away - nor can the fact that the Sena has emerged as the weakest link - at least on the surface of things. It is a senior Sena minister, Eknath Shinde, who has decamped for Surat, taking 21 MLAs with him. That they are sheltering in place in a BJP-ruled state is a dead giveaway of what Mr Shinde is attempting to engineer. "Attempts to topple the state government using Eknath Shinde will not succeed. Shinde is a loyal party worker who has participated in agitations with us several times. He is Bala Sahab's soldier," said the Sena's Sanjay Raut. He further claimed that communication has been established with Mr Shinde.
