HomePoliticsAmidst fight for legacy and control of party with Eknath Shinde faction,...

Amidst fight for legacy and control of party with Eknath Shinde faction, Shiv Sena changes chief whip in Lok Sabha ahead of Prez poll

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Mumbai: Ahead of the Presidential polls, Shiv Sena has replaced its chief whip in the Lok Sabha. In a letter written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut has said that the party has nominated Rajan Vichare as the chief whip in place of Bhavana Gawali with immediate effect.

This comes a day after Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale urged party president Uddhav Thackeray to support NDA’s candidate Draupadi Murmu for the presidential polls.

Relations between Shiv Sena and NDA, led by BJP have soured in the past three years after a disagreement over government formation in Maharashtra. The fissures have aggravated over the last two weeks during which the Uddhav Thackeray led MVA government was toppled after a rebellion by 40 Shiv Sena MLAs. The rebel MPs led by Eknath Shinde have joined hands with the BJP to form an alternate government.

Interestingly, Vichare is a Lok Sabha MP from Thane, the stronghold of incumbent Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. While it may be recalled that Gawali had recently urged Uddhav Thackeray to ditch the alliance with Congress and NCP and get back with their ideological partner, the BJP.

Even as Shiv Sena has lost a majority of their MLAs to Eknath Shinde, the party is trying to keep its MPs together and the change of whip seems to be the first direction in that step.

Election to elect the 16th President of India will be held on July 18 and counting of votes will be held in New Delhi on July 21. Draupadi Murmu of the BJP led NDA is pitted against UPA candidate Yashwant Sinha. The term of office of current President of India, Ram Nath Kovind is due to end on July 24.

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