After party split in Maharashtra Assembly, Shiv Sena now splits in the Lok Sabha as 12 MPs join Eknath Shinde-led rebel camp

Mumbai South-Central MP Rahul Shewale named as new group leader in Lok Sabha by rebel camp

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Mumbai: The after-shocks of the revolt of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Maharashtra last month continue to be felt by the party, as party’s Lok Sabha group was split wide open on Tuesday with 12 of the 19 Sena Lok Sabha MPs switching over to the Shinde rebel camp, dealing another body blow to Uddhav Thackeray’s dwindling Sena faction.

The development which was long overdue since the rebellion of 40 Sena MLAs in the State last month, evoked little surprise.

Speaking to media persons Maharashtra Sadan, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accompanied by all the rebel MPs in New Delhi’s Maharashtra Sadan announced that Mumbai South-Central MP Rahul Shewale would be the new Sena group leader in the Lok Sabha instead of the present Sena group leader Vinayak Raut.

Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhavana Gawali who was recently removed by the Uddhav faction as the party’s chief whip was reinstated in the same capacity by Eknath Shinde’s rebel camp.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde disclosed, “All 12 MPs today submitted a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker (Om Birla) regarding formation of a group of Shiv Sena MPs in the Lok Sabha. I congratulate them on their decision. Earlier, 50 MLAs had taken the decision, which ought to have been taken two-and-a-half years ago, in the State to move ahead with Sena chief late Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe’s ideals and the creation of a natural Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. Today the MPs have done the same.”

He rejected the contentions of Uddhav loyalist and Sena MP Sanjay Raut that the 12 Sena Lok Sabha MPs had joined the rebel camp out of any pressure that may have been put by the BJP-led Centre by way of unleashing central agencies on the Sena lawmakers. Shinde quipped, “Sanjay Raut’s matinee show has stopped. He is not worth taking notice anymore.”

Earlier in the day, Uddhav Thackeray camp loyalist and Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai South constituency and former union minister Arvind Sawant had said that the rebel camp had no authority to announce a new group leader in the Lower House of Parliament.

According to sources in the Lok Sabha secretariat, the Speaker is examining letters from both the Shinde-led rebel faction as well as the Uddhav Thackeray camp and has not yet taken any decision to recognize Rahul Shewale as the party’s new group leader as requested by the rebels.

Remarking that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had fully backed the new Sena (Shinde camp)-BJP government in the State, the Chief Minister said that throughout the State, Shiv Sainiks at all levels, along with Maharashtra’s public, have wholeheartedly backed the rebels’ decision to form a natural alliance with the BJP.

Besides Rahul Shewale and Bhavana Gawali, those who have joined the rebel camp include Kalyan MP Dr. Shrikant Shinde, who is also CM Eknath Shinde’s son; Kolhapur MP Sanjay Mandlik, Hatkanangale MP Dhairyasheel Mane, Ramtek MP Krupal Tumane, Maval MP Shrirang Barne, Nashik MP Hemant Godse, Hingoli MP Hemant Patil, Shirdi MP Sadashiv Lokhande, Buldhana MP Prataprao Jadhav and Palghar MP Rajendra Gavit.

Shewale added, “All the 12 Lok Sabha MPs (of the new breakaway faction) had fought against the NCP and the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and had won…We faced a number of problems with our erstwhile MVA allies during the last two and a half years. Hence, we have taken this decision given that all our lives we have fought against these two parties.”

He, however, argued that the MPs had not formed any new group in the Lok Sabha and added that the party would remain as a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Shewale further added, “The Shiv Sena had never given any letter exiting the NDA (when Sena MP Arvind Sawant had resigned as the union minister at the Centre) or joining the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) (following its MVA alliance with the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra) …We have merely changed our group leader in the Lok Sabha. We continue to remain within the NDA as a constituent party and we will support NDAs candidates (in upcoming vice-presidential poll).”

He further accused the party leadership (Uddhav Thackeray) of not addressing the problems faced by the party MPs, while remarking that MPs had complained about their present group leader Vinayak Raut, but no action was taken against Vinayak Raut. Shewale further stated that none of the resolutions in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) could be implemented owing to the conflicting positions taken by the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.