Shinde's appeal came after Sena workers loyal to party president and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray staged protests against the rebel MLAs led by him.
A purported video of the incident went viral on social media, prompting the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party to demand action against Naroda constituency MLA Balram Thawani, who has apologised. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also condemned the incident.
In a stunning comeback, Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance on Saturday stormed to power in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term, winning 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, despite an all-out blitz by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance which managed only 24 seats.
Prominent among these include former sports minister and sitting MLA Gurmit Singh Sodhi, MLA Fatehjang Singh Bajwa and former minister Anil Joshi.
An OBC leader, Thakor, who has good oratory skills, will have to take along all factions in the state unit while taking on the well-organised BJP which has been in power in the state from 1998.
'Not just Maharashtra, the Congress has not fielded even one Muslim candidate from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.'
Fadnavis' announcement comes at a time when a section of Bharatiya Janata Party in Kalyan has expressed reservations against fielding Shrikant Shinde, the sitting MP from Shiv Sena.
Veteran party leader Anil Vij will seek re-election from his Ambala Cantt stronghold.
The Khanpur MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion is seen dancing to a popular Bollywood number with two revolvers in his hands and a carbine hanging from his shoulder. He is seen sipping his drink from a glass as his friends cheer him on.
He said he will be soon taking a decision on his political future and wants to contest the assembly polls from Kunigal seat.
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