Maharashtra: 12 Shiv Sena MPs may form separate group and meet Lok Sabha speaker

Mumbai, July 18: A group of 12 Shiv Sena MPs on Monday attended the 'national executive' of the party called by the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction and decided to form a separate group in Lok Sabha, a Shiv Sena MP from Maharashtra claimed. The move comes weeks after a rebellion of 40 MLAs led by Shinde caused the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.

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, he said.

The MP also claimed that a new national committee has been appointed replacing the one appointed by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. However, the Shinde faction spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar has denied the formation of any national committee replacing the existing one appointed by Thackeray.

"We attended an online meeting of the party national executive held by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde today. We have decided to form a separate group under the leadership of Rahul Shewale (an MP from Mumbai). He will be our group leader," the Sena MP said.

He said Shiv Sena MPs Vinayak Raut, Arvind Sawant, Gajanan Kiritkar, Sanjay Jadhav, Om Raje Nimbalkar, and Rajan Vichare did not attend the virtual meeting called by Shinde while the rest 12 MPs from Maharashtra attended.

The Shiv Sena has 19 MPs in Lok Sabha, including 18 from Maharashtra.

The MP also 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 Shive Sena, the MP claimed.

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

The Supreme 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.