12 Sena MPs name leader, chief whip in letter to LS Speaker, break Udhhav faction's party line

In what could be another setback to ousted Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, at least twelve of the 19 Shiv Sena Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Lok Sabha have reportedly written to Speaker Om Birla, requesting him to make Rahul Shewale their leader while demanding the retention of Bhavana Gawali as the chief whip.

Shewale is also being supported by the rebel Shiv Sena leader and now Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. The Shinde camp is expected to write to the Speaker asking for the appointment of Rahul Shewale as the party’s group leader, replacing Thackeray loyalist Vinayak Raut, and Gawali as the chief whip.

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This request by the 12 Sena MPs is in contrast to the line taken by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which has reportedly written another letter to Birla seeking the removal of Gawali from the post of the chief whip and replacing him with Rachna Vichare. In this letter written by Vinayak Raut, who is a Shiv Sena leader in the lower house, pitches Vichare as the party’s chief whip.

The move comes almost a month after a revolt in the Shiv Sena which led to a split in the party bringing down the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra.

Over two-third of MLAs had joined rebel leader Shinde, who went on to become the CM in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Meanwhile, Shinde is in Delhi to review the legal strategy on the disqualification petition filed by the Uddhav Thackeray camp against 16 MLAs supporting him.