E-Paper
Maharashtra: Rival Shiv Sena camps move notices against each other
On Sunday, Rahul Narwekar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was elected as the assembly speaker with 164 votes, while 107 legislators voted against him. Narwekar was supported by 39 Shiv Sena MLAs who have rebelled with Eknath Shinde, and 11 independents.
The fight between the two rival camps of the Shiv Sena intensified on Sunday, with each group seeking disqualification of legislators from the other camp for breaching the party’s whip while voting for the election to the assembly speaker.
On Sunday, Rahul Narwekar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was elected as the assembly speaker with 164 votes, while 107 legislators voted against him. Narwekar was supported by 39 Shiv Sena MLAs who have rebelled with Eknath Shinde, and 11 independents. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had fielded Rajan Salvi as its nominee.
After the voting, both camps wrote to deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal, who was in the chair, claiming that legislators from the opposite camp breached the whip and voted against the “official” nominee of the party.
The rival camps sought that MLAs from the opposite camp be disqualified for flouting the whip issued for the election of the speaker.
While Thackeray loyalist Sunil Prabhu is the chief whip of the party, the Shinde group — which claims it is the “real” Shiv Sena as it is backed by over two-third of the party’s strength of 55 MLAs in the assembly — has named Bharat Gogawale as its chief whip. Prabhu had issued a whip supporting Salvi, Gogawale had backed Narwekar.
After voting was completed, Ajay Choudhari, who represents the 16 legislators loyal to Thackeray as their group leader, wrote to deputy speaker Zirwal, asking for the names of members who flouted party’s whip be recorded.
While the Shinde camp has claimed a majority in the legislature party, Thackeray loyalists said the chief whip of the party is appointed by the Shiv Sena president according to the party’s constitution.
“39 of our MLAs did not obey our whip, and didn’t follow party order, so we have sought their disqualification from new Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar,” said Sena MP Arvind Sawant. “Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has chosen Ajay Choudhari as the leader of the group.”
After he was elected, Narwekar read out a letter by Gogawale, the chief whip of the Shinde group, wherein he noted that 16 members of the Shiv Sena legislature party breached the whip and voted against it. “I have taken a note of the 16 members,” Narwekar added.
A senior BJP legislator requesting anonymity said the two camps were putting their positions on the record for the legal battle that is on the cards in the House and in the Supreme Court.
