The letter said that he has the support of most of the MLAs and will be the leader of the legislature party. Shinde informs Jirwal that he has appointed MLA Bharat Gogawale as the party’s chief whip, indicating that the current whip Sunil Prabhu The door was shown. Prabhu on Wednesday issued a whip asking all Shiv Sena MLAs to be present for the meeting at the CM’s official residence. Shinde’s appointment of a new whip was reportedly aimed at establishing that Prabhu’s summons to the legislators was “legally invalid”.
Political experts say that in such a situation the post of chief whip and leader of the legislature party becomes important. “The whip can issue directions to vote and is the promoter of the party. Members who vote against the whip may be disqualified and may also be expelled. So in the present case, it would be important to see that Which whip is recognized, Prabhu or Gogavale,” said a functionary.
“Shinde camp now claims that it has 2/3 MLAs so technically the party is now Shinde camp. And he appointed his whip, Bharat Gogavale. The Shinde camp has given a letter signed by 34 Shiv Sena MLAs reiterating that Shinde is the leader of the legislature party. He has claimed that the appointment of Ajay Choudhary as the leader of the legislature party by the Shiv Sena is illegal. But we are told that the deputy speaker has already recognized Chowdhury as the leader of the legislature party,” said a political observer.
Another former legislature functionary said that since the Shinde camp MLAs also passed and signed a resolution stating that Chowdhury’s appointment was void as it was “without authority”, Chowdhury was appointed as the deputy speaker. Recognition can come under challenge. Another functionary of the Shinde camp said, “Most of the MLAs are with Shinde. If any Shiv Sena MLAs participate in the meetings convened by Prabhu’s whip, they can be expelled. Since the leader of the legislature party is Eknath Shinde, his appointment of whip can be considered valid.”