Shiv Sena appoints Rajan Vichare as Chief Whip in Lok Sabha, replacing Bhavna Gawli

Party leader Sanjay Raut said the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena named Rajan Vichare as the chief whip in the Lok Sabha in place of MP Bhavna Gawli. According to sources, this change was made because Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray fears that some of his MPs may also break.

“You are informed that Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party has nominated Rajan Vichare as Chief Whip in Lok Sabha in place of Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Bhavna Gawli with immediate effect,” Raut said in a letter to the Parliament. Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi. Raut is the leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party.

Gawli, who represents the Yavatmal-Washim LS constituency in eastern Maharashtra, was one of the Shiv Sena MPs to suggest the Shiv Sena re-ally with the BJP amid the Eknath Shinde-led rebellion.

Vichare represents the Thane Lok Sabha constituency. Incidentally, CM Eknath Shinde is also a resident of Thane. Shiv Sena has 18 MPs in Lok Sabha and three in Rajya Sabha.

Earlier in the day, rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil had claimed that 12 out of 18 Shiv Sena MPs would soon join the Eknath Shinde-led faction.

A day earlier, Shiv Sena’s Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale asked Uddhav Thackeray to ask party MPs to support NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, considering her tribal roots and contribution to the social sector.

The whip played a key role in the recent political crisis, which culminated in the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government and the swearing-in of Eknath Shinde as the new chief minister.

The factions led by Shinde and Thackeray had issued a whip for the election of the Speaker of the Assembly and voting during the trust vote of the Shinde-led government. There is a dispute amongst themselves over the validity of the whip.

Read also: ‘Kotari’ around Uddhav Thackeray responsible for current developments: Shiv Sena rebel MLAs

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