Making a dark prediction, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday said that 45 out of the 50 MLAs of the Shiv Sena rebel group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde “will be vanquished in the next elections”.

The NCP said that the Chief Minister is making futile attempts to explain how his revolt in early-June was justified and based on certain issues, but the people of the state are not convinced and do not support his views.

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Claiming that the regime of Shinde and Bharatiya Janata Party Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is “unconstitutional”, the NCP also said that “its benchmark is far below the earlier Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Sena-NCP-Congress” which fell on June 29.

In a stinging statement, NCP Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase slammed Shinde for continuing to justify his rebellion against the ex-CM and Sena President Uddhav Thackeray that toppled the MVA government.

However, Shinde has not said a single word for his vision of Maharashtra, 10 weeks after he took the oath, Tapase pointed out.

“The Shinde-Fadnavis government is yet to get Constitutional validation from the Supreme Court and we shall continue to call it an unconstitutional alliance regime till then,” Tapase said sharply.

He said that the Shinde Group is also worried about the criticism levelled by NCP state President Jayant Patil, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar and MP Supriya Sule as his rule has fallen far short of expectations compared with the erstwhile MVA government.

“Moreover, the Shinde Group does not have a disciplined cadre and hence they are spending money to hire people for their meetings. The same crowds were seen looting boxes of ‘laddoo’ and ‘pedhas’ (sweetmeats),” Tapase said, hitting at Shinde’s rally in Aurangabad’s Paithan on Monday where the chaos was witnessed.

Accordingly, the electorate will reject at least 45 of the 50 MLAs – who have thrown their lot with Shinde – in the next Assembly elections, predicted Tapase.

In recent weeks, the Opposition MVA has stepped up attacks on the Shinde-Fadnavis government on a variety of issues including the delays in naming district Guardian Ministers, timely aid to the flood-ravaged farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions and other aspects.