Taking dissident Shiv Sena MLAs head on, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray accused them of betrayal and challenged them to try and wean away common party workers as he slammed rebel leader Eknath Shinde and also tore into the BJP, saying it wants to “finish off” his outfit and does not want to share its Hindu votebank.

As the four-day-old political crisis, triggered due to a revolt by a group of Sena MLAs led by cabinet minister Shinde, showed no signs of heading towards a resolution, Thackeray upped the ante and said those who want to leave can do so and communicated directly with Shiv Sainiks and mid-level functionaries, and also met NCP president Sharad Pawar, whose party is the second largest constituent in the ruling MVA alliance. The Maharashtra CM has called for a meeting today at 1 pm of All Sena National Executives at Sena Bhavan.