A huge protest erupted on Thursday afternoon outside the hotel in Guwahati where rebel Maharashtra minister Eknath Shinde has been camping with oher MLAs who are said to be supporting his coup against Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.The protest was led by Trinamool's Assam unit chief Ripun Bora, news agency ANI reported. Many other workers were seen raising slogans in the clip.The stir broke out as Shinde spends day 2 in the BJP-ruled state along with other legislators who are backing his rebellion.
The protesters shouted slogans accusing Assam's ruling BJP of investing all its resources in enabling the Shiv Sena coup in order to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra.The Trinamool Congress alleged that the state government had done nothing to alleviate the sufferings of those hit by massive floods in the state. Over 55 lakh people have been affected by the floods caused by the rising waters of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers. Since May, 89 people have died in the floods.Eknath Shinde's supporters claim about 40 MLAs are at the hotel, comfortably above the 37-mark needed for the rebels to split the party without risking disqualification under the anti-defection law.