37 MLAs say Eknath Shinde is our leader, write to Deputy Speaker
Shinde sent a letter to the deputy speaker, signed by 37 Sena MLAs who are currently staying with him in Guwahati; also informing that Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as chief whip of legislature party in place of Sunil Prabhu.
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Mumbai, June 24: Amidst the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra, all of the 37 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who are camping in Guwahati sent a letter to Maharashtra Assembly's Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, stating that Eknath Shinde will remain their group leader in legislature.
Shinde on Thursday, sent a letter to the deputy speaker, signed by 37 Sena MLAs who are currently staying with him in Guwahati. It also informed that Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as chief whip of legislature party in place of Sunil Prabhu.
With 37 MLAs, the rebel camp has now 2/3 of total Shiv Sena MLAs, and hence they can’t be disqualified from the assembly. If the deputy speaker does not accept their demand, they can form a new party, and the speaker of the assembly will have to accept it.
On Thursday, Zirwal had said that he had approved appointment of Ajay Chaudhary as the group leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party, replacing senior minister Shinde who has rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership.
Shinde also hit back at those demanding action against MLAs in his faction for not attending a meeting called by Prabhu, claiming that a whip is applicable only for legislative events. Some Sena workers loyal to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray earlier on Thursday demanded action against those who did not attend the 5 pm meeting called by the party on Wednesday.
“Who are you trying to threaten? We know your gimmicks and also understand the law very well. As per the 10th schedule of the Constitution, the whip is applicable for legislative works and not for any meeting.
“We demand action against you instead because you do not have sufficient number (of MLAs) but still formed a group of 12 MLAs. We do not pay any heed to such threats,” Shinde tweeted.