Amid infighting, Sena changes Lok Sabha chief whip

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray replaced his party’s chief whip in Parliament on Wednesday. Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhavana Gawli who had earlier said that Uddhav Thackeray should consider a fresh alliance with the BJP was replaced by Thane MP Rajan Vichare.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray replaced his party’s chief whip in Parliament on Wednesday. Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhavana Gawli who had earlier said that Uddhav Thackeray should consider a fresh alliance with the BJP was replaced by Thane MP Rajan Vichare.

Thane MP Rajan Vichare was nominated as the Shiv Sena chief whip in Lok Sabha by party chief Uddhav Thackeray. (HT PHOTO)

The move is significant for two reasons: one, it’s an attempt to forestall the Eknath Shinde faction from taking over the parliamentary party, and second, the choice of Vichare who is a leader from Thane—Shinde’s stronghold—as chief whip would suggest Uddhav is taking the battle into the Shinde camp, even if belatedly. Vichare, 60, was also mentored by Anand Dighe, the deceased Sena leader, who mentored Shinde too. Shinde and Vichare have in the past jousted for prominence in the party, but after Shinde’s rise in the MVA in the last few years, Vichare is reported to have built bridges with him.

On Wednesday, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla notifying him that the Shiv Sena parliamentary party had nominated Vichare as its chief whip replacing Gawali with immediate effect.

The move comes after another Sena MP, Rahul Shewale, wrote to Uddhav Thackeray asking him to support the candidature of NDA’s Droupadi Murmu as India’s next President instead of the Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. The Shiv Sena has 19 Lok Sabha MPs, including 18 from Maharashtra and one from Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It also has three Rajya Sabha MPs.

“Gawali’s recent statements would suggest a tilt towards the Shinde camp. We want to prevent a situation wherein she issues a whip that supports their position,” said a Shiv Sena MP. He added that Vichare—who is a well-respected leader in Thane—had remained loyal to Thackeray through the Shinde-led rebellion in the party. So far, the only MP who has outrightly supported Eknath Shinde is his son Shrikant Shinde, a second-term Sena MP from Kalyan. Bhavana Gawli has not rebelled openly but has been making conciliatory noises towards the BJP. On July 1, the Bombay High Court (HC) granted bail to Saeed Khan, an associate of Gawali, who had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case last year. Gawali herself is also an accused in the case.

It’s not just the control of the Parliamentary party that worries the Uddhav camp. On Wednesday former MP Anand Adsul resigned from the post of leader or neta from the Shiv Sena’s national executive. The Sena national executive has 12 positions for leader or netas of whom now only 10 remain. Last week Uddhav Thackeray removed Eknath Shinde from his position as leader in the national executive, and this is followed by Adsul’s departure. His son Abhijit Adsul, a former Sena MLA, has already expressed his allegiance to Eknath Shinde. Moving forward the battle lines between the Uddhav and Shinde camp will be drawn over who controls the party’s organisational structure.