Ahead of the floor test on July 4, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with his group of Shiv Sena MLAs is holding a meeting with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, BJP MLAs and other party leaders at a hotel in Mumbai.
The new alliance elected BJP candidate Rahul Narvekar as Speaker of the House with 164 votes in favor and 107 against him on the first day of the special two-day session of the Assembly that began on July 3.
Meanwhile, fresh differences have surfaced within the Shiv Sena after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis announced rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde as the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Read also: Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government to face floor test on July 4
On July 3 in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, there was a dispute between two factions of Shiv Sena over the whip for the election of Speaker. Earlier, both the Shiv Sena and the Eknath Shinde-led faction had issued separate whips directing the MLAs to vote for their respective candidates.
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar has taken on record a letter sent by Bharat Gogawale, chief whip of the Eknath Shinde-led faction.
The letter mentions violation of whip by 16 Shiv Sena MLAs. Earlier, Gogavale had issued a whip for the election of the Speaker of the state assembly.
With new developments in the state, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has to prepare for a long battle with rebel MLA Eknath Shinde to take control of party offices including the Shiv Sena, its election symbol and even the iconic Shiv Sena Bhavan. The fight between the two factions is likely to reach the Election Commission of India soon.
Shinde faction has 39 MLAs, while Thackeray has 16 MLAs, including his son Aditya. In the latest development, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction has also started the legal process to disqualify 16 MLAs, including Shinde.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu’s plea seeking suspension from the Assembly of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs, against whom disqualification petitions are pending, saying That he is “fully aware” of the issue. 11 July.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mr Prabhu, urged a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala that the interim petition needs urgent hearing as the disqualification proceedings against the 16 MPs, including the Chief Minister, are pending.
With ANI inputs.