Now, Sena to split in Parliament, pro-Shinde MPs to form separate faction

After the Shiv Sena's division in Maharashtra assembly, its parliamentary party is also staring at a split with several MPs set to petition Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to recognise them as a separate group.

A Shiv Sena Lok Sabha member claimed that at least 12 of the 18 Shiv Sena members will meet Birla to submit a formal letter to recognise it as a separate group.

In a pre-emptive move, Vinayak Raut, the leader of the Shiv Sena, wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker asserting that he was the 'duly appointed' leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party and urged him not to entertain any representation from the breakaway faction.

'You are therefore called upon not to acknowledge or entertain representation made by any other MP(s) or acknowledge or entertain any direction/whip issued by anybody else, falsely claiming to be the leader or the chief whip of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party,' Raut said, adding that Rajan Vichare was the chief whip of the party.

A group of Shiv Sena MPs on Monday attended a virtual meeting of the 'national executive' chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The national executive called by the rebel group ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on July 20, also appointed Shinde as the 'chief leader' of the party, a Lok Sabha member said.

At least 12 Lok Sabha members, out of the total 18, are approaching the Speaker on Tuesday with a plea to recognise them as a separate group.

"We are not splitting the party. We are only asking the Speaker that we do not have faith in the current leader and Rahul Shewale, Lok Sabha member from Mumbai South Central, is our leader," another rebel Lok Sabha member said.

Kalaben Delkar, Lok Sabha member from Dadra & Nagar Haveli, has pledged her allegiance to the Shiv Sena, but had not contested the election on the party symbol.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde will be in Delhi on Tuesday and the breakaway faction of Lok Sabha members are expected to meet him.

"We will take action against MPs who attend the meeting with Shinde," Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member, told reporters in Delhi.

Shinde, who had led a rebellion within the Shiv Sena ranks, was sworn-in as chief minister on June 30 with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He has the support of 40 of Shiv Sena's 55 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly and Speaker Rahul Narwekar has recognised the faction as the Legislature Party.

As speculation about 14 Shiv Sena Lok Sabha members forming a separate group swirled, party MPs gathered at the residence of Sanjay Raut.

Among those present were Lok Sabha members Arvind Sawant, Vinayak Raut, Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Jadhav, Rajan Vichare and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi.

Raut said Lok Sabha member Gajanan Kirtikar was unwell and was firmly with Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.

"Jahan Thackeray wahan Shiv Sena (Shiv Sena is where Thackeray is). How can you claim 14 MPs, when six-seven of us are here," Raut said, pointing at Lok Sabha members present at the press conference.

Raut also dismissed reports about the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena dissolving the national executive of the party.

"Whatever is going on could at best be termed as Comedy Express Season 2. Shiv Sena is a recognised political party. The breakaway faction does not have any right to dissolve the national executive," Raut said.

He said the Shinde faction has made a laughing stock of itself with its antics.

A Supreme Court bench constituted by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana will decide the fate of the breakaway faction led by Shinde, Raut said.

A rebel MP claimed that Shiv Sena leaders Anandrao Adsul and Ramdas Kadam, who quit their posts, have been 'reinstated' as leaders by the rebel faction.

Former MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, and former ministers Gulabrao Patil and Uday Samant have been appointed as deputy leaders of the Shiv Sena, the MP claimed.

The Shiv Sena has sought disqualification of some rebel MLAs and the matter is pending before the Supreme Court.

The apex court is scheduled to hear on July 20 a batch of pleas pertaining to the recent happenings in Maharashtra that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.