Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has recognized Rahul Shewale as the Shiv Sena leader in the lower house of Parliament. Shinde told reporters here that Shiv Sena MPs have supported his stand to uphold the ideals of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
“Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has recognized Rahul Shewale as the Shiv Sena leader in the lower house,” he said. Shinde was accompanied by 12 Lok Sabha members of Shiv Sena who had written to Speaker Om Birla to replace the leader of the parliamentary party.
Rahul Shewale, the party’s new leader in the Lok Sabha, said, “Uddhav Thackeray was keen to rejoin the BJP, but went back on his word.” “We also asked Thackeray not to support Margaret Alva for the post of VP, but our views were ignored,” he said. Shiv Sena has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha, out of which 12 are supporting the Shinde camp.
Twelve Lok Sabha members of Shiv Sena, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde, first met Speaker Om Birla and requested him to change the leader of the party in the lower house of Parliament. The rebel Shiv Sena MPs met Birla a day after party floor leader Vinayak Raut delivered a letter to the speaker, asking him not to entertain any representation from the rival faction.
Hemant Godse, one of the 12 MPs from the Shinde faction, said, “12 Lok Sabha members of Shiv Sena met Speaker Om Birla and requested him to appoint Rahul Shewale as the leader of the party in place of Vinayak Raut.” Raut, in his letter submitted to the speaker on Monday night, had made it clear that he was the “duly appointed” leader of the Shiv Sena parliamentary party and Rajan Vichare was the chief whip.
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