Mumbai, June 23 (TIWN): As the Shiv Sena grappled with a potentially “life-threatening” rebellion in its ranks for the third day on Thursday, its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies – the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress – threw their full weight behind embattled Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Late on Wednesday, Thackeray offered to quit as CM and as Sena President, and on Thursday, party MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut even said the party is ready to “leave the MVA”, with a rider that “all rebels must reach Mumbai in 24 hours and put their viewpoint before the leadership”.

“We are ready to walk out of the MVA, provided the rebels return to Mumbai within 24 hours and hold discussions with the Shiv Sena,” Raut said, throwing yet another challenge to the group of rebels led by Minister Eknath Shinde.

He called upon the rebels to stop communicating on social media or phone messages or letters or statements sitting in Assam, and like “true Shiv Sainiks” show the guts to come to Mumbai.

“Come here within 24 hours… Sit before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Saheb and present your viewpoint to him. We shall definitely consider them,” Raut declared.

Both the NCP and the Congress, while expressing confidence that the political fracas will die out soon, said they will remain with the MVA and Thackeray till the very end, and if the situation arose, would be prepared to sit in the opposition benches.

Intervening this evening, NCP President Sharad Pawar warned that the “rebels will have to pay the price for their revolt when they face the electorate”.

“The MVA government has already proved its majority. Those who call the 3-party experiment a failure are ignorant. The government has performed well and taken many major decisions in the past two and half years,” he asserted, dismissing the rebel MLAs allegations of not getting adequate funds for development works as “false”.

He pointed out that the rebels “would have to come before the Governor or the legislature” to prove their strength, and after their return, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not “guide” them.

Pawar also expressed confidence that the rebel Sena MLAs will return to the party fold and flayed the manner in which they were taken away as “improper”.