Maha official seeks details from Shinde on replacing Uddhav's whip in council

The office of Neelam Gorhe, deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, has sought more details with regard to a letter by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde seeking the appointment of Viplove Bajoria as Shiv Sena whip in the Upper House, effectively giving a temporary breather to the Thackeray camp.

An official from the state legislature said, ”The Thackeray camp has already appointed Vilas Potnis as the whip of the party. However, when CM Shinde sent us a letter asking us to appoint Viplove Bajoria as the whip of the party, the administration needs to know the details of the meeting where this decision was taken.”

While Gorhe, a senior legislator, is part of the Thackeray camp, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shinde bloc in the state currently does not have a majority in the Upper House.

When asked about the need for these details, the official said, ”If someone challenges the appointment of Bajoria as the whip in a court, we need to have documentary evidence to prove it. Hence it is necessary to have details on the Shinde camp's meeting, its venue and the resolutions passed in it.”

The move is expected to give the Thackeray camp some breathing space as no decision will likely be taken on Shinde's letter till the details are submitted to the deputy chairperson's office.

Earlier, Bharat Gogawale, the chief whip of Shiv Sena in the assembly as per Speaker Rahul Narvekar, had said, ”Shinde is the Shiv Sena leader and accepting his letter to change the chief whip is the precedent.”

 The Election Commission has already allotted the name Shiv Sena and its symbol (bow and arrow) will remain with CM Shinde, he said.

During a hearing in the Supreme Court last week over the Uddhav Thackeray faction's plea challenging the decision of the Election Commission recognising the Shinde-led group as the real Shiv Sena, senior advocate N K Kaul, appearing for the Shinde bloc, assured the SC bench it will not take steps like issuing whip or initiation of disqualification proceedings against lawmakers -- MLAs, MLCs and MPs -- of the Thackeray faction for the time being.

The assurance came after senior advocate A M Singhvi, also appearing for Thackeray, had raised apprehension, saying, ”Tomorrow, if they issue a whip or a letter and if we do not do it then we will be disqualified. Now they are the party. I have no protection. Your lordships should give us the status quo at least.”

This had led the SC bench to ask: ”If we take this (petition for hearing) after two weeks, are you in the process of issuing a whip or disqualifying them?” “No, no,” responded Kaul.

When asked about it, Gogawale had said, ”We have been asked not to take any action against the Thackeray camp. We can still issue a whip and ask all the members to remain present full-time during the session.”