Maharashtra Budget session: Amid fight over whip, oppn MLC jumps ship

Denying that any whip was issued to him, Sunil Prabhu, whip and MLA from the Thackeray faction said, They (the Shinde faction) have no authority to issue a whip to us. We have met the speaker Rahul Narvekar and told him that a case is pending before the SC and any action will be contempt of court

Mumbai: Ten days after the Election Commission of India (ECI) gave its verdict on recognising the Shinde faction as ‘Shiv Sena’, the first day of the state legislature’s budget session on Monday turned out to be an opportunity for both the Sena factions to fight it out. This time, over the issuance of whip by the Shinde faction which the Sena (UBT) chose not to follow.

Mumbai, India - February 27, 2023: CM Eknath Shinde along with other MLAs arrives for the Maharashtra Budget Session, at Vidhan Bhavan, Nariman Point, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, February 27, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

A whip is a written ordinance which mandates party members to be present in a state assembly or parliament if an important vote is to be cast. A Thackeray faction leader also confirmed that its MLC Viplav Bajoria has shifted loyalty to Shinde faction.

Denying that any whip was issued to him, Sunil Prabhu, whip and MLA from the Thackeray faction said, They (the Shinde faction) have no authority to issue a whip to us. We have met the speaker Rahul Narvekar and told him that a case is pending before the SC and any action will be contempt of court.”

Thackeray faction also chose to sit with the opposition and also denied the applicability of the whip issued by the Shinde faction to all 56 MLAs saying they have not received any whip and it is not mandatory for them to follow it.

Sena (UBT) also chose not to submit a letter to speaker Rahul Narwekar to recognise them as a separate group to avoid any impact in view of pending cases in the Supreme Court on ECI verdict and disqualification of 16 MLAs, including CM Shinde.

Shinde-led Shiv Sena issued a whip to all 56 MLAs, and claimed the same was issued to 16 from the Thackeray faction. “We have issued the whip to all 56 Shiv Sena MLAs and all will have to follow it, otherwise we can take action after two weeks,” said Bharat Gogawale, chief whip of the Shinde faction. This was a trigger point between the two factions. Thackeray faction vociferously denied that they received any whip and also said that Shinde-led Shiv Sena has no authority to issue whip to them.

Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said no importance should be given to the whip issued by the Shinde faction. “They claim many things so no need to give importance to what they are saying now. As far as sitting in assembly is concerned, we are sitting as we used to sit, as the opposition party,” he said. He also said that it is more important to raise issues related to the public interest than insisting on party office in the legislature. Thackeray faction earlier said that they sought legal advice on whether to submit the letter for a separate office in the legislature or not. But now the Thackeray faction has chosen not to submit a letter to the speaker to recognise them as a separate group since it has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission’s decision. The Thackeray faction feels such a letter will weaken their side in court.

As the CM-led Shiv Sena has been allotted the party office of Sena, MLAs from the Thackeray faction now have no separate place to sit outside the house. Thackeray faction MLAs on Monday used the office of Ambadas Danve, leader of the opposition in council from Shiv Sena (UBT) to sit. “At present, we are sitting in the office of Ambadas Danve,” told Sunil Prabhu.

MLC Viplav Bajoria has shifted loyalty to Shinde Faction. But he has not given an official letter in this regard to the deputy chairperson of the legislative council, confirmed a Thackeray faction leader. Viplav Bajoria is the MLC of Shiv Sena and the son of the former MLC of Shiv Sena Gopiksan Bajoria. He is from Akola district in Vidarbha but won the council election for Shiv Sena in 2018 from Parbhani-Hingoli local bodies constituency. He is a businessman by profession. His father Gopi Kisan Bajoria joined hands with CM Eknath Shinde a few months back.