CM Shinde seeks appointment of new chief whip of Sena in Legislative Council

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has written a letter to the state Legislative Councils deputy chairperson seeking that Viplove Bajoria be made the Shiv Senas chief whip in the Upper House a move apparently aimed at further cornering the faction led by former CM Uddhav ThackerayCurrently Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MLC Anil Parab is the partys chief whip in the HouseShinde has given the letter to state Legislative Councils deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe who is part of the Thackeray campThe Budget session of the Maharashtra legislature began on MondayBharat Gogawale the Shiv Senas chief whip in the state Assembly on Sunday evening said We have issued a whip to all MLAs of the Shiv Sena asking them to remain present fulltime during the Budget session If any legislator does not follow it heshe will face actionThe ruling Bharatiya Janata PartyShinde bloc in the state currently does not have a majority in the Upper HouseAmid the high decibel political and legal battle between rival Shiv Sena groups Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar last week said he has not got representation from any group claiming to be a separate party in the Lower HouseAlso Read Maharashtra Gripe over Whip spills to assemblyThe Speaker told PTI that there is only one Shiv Sena with 55 MLAs which is led by Shinde and legislator Bharat Gogawale has been recognised as its chief whipNarvekar has approved the appointment of Shinde as the legislature party leaderSpeaking to reporters on Tuesday Gogawale said We have given a letter asking the Legislative Councils deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe to appoint Viplove Bajoria as the Shiv Senas chief whip in the House Gorhe will have to accept it Shinde is the Shiv Sena leader and accepting his letter to change the chief whip is the precedenceThe Election Commission has already allotted the name Shiv Sena and its symbol bow and arrow will remain with Chief Minister Shinde he saidNotably during a hearing in the Supreme Court last week over the Uddhav Thackeray factions plea challenging the decision of the Election Commission recognising the Shindeled bloc as the real Shiv Sena senior advocate N K Kaul appearing for the Shinde bloc assured the SC bench it will not take steps like issuing whip or initiation of disqualification proceedings against lawmakers MLAs MLCs and MPs of the Thackeray faction for the time beingThe assurance came after senior advocate A M Singhvi also appearing for Thackeray had raised apprehension saying Tomorrow if they issue a whip or a letter and if we do not do it then we will be disqualified Now they are the party I have no protection Your lordships should give us the status quo at leastThis had led the SC bench to ask If we take this petition for hearing after two weeks are you in the process of issuing a whip or disqualifying them No no responded KaulWhen asked about it Gogawale said We have been asked not to take any action against the Thackeray camp We can still issue a whip and ask all the members to remain present fulltime during the sessionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever