Shinde, Thackeray seeks appointment of Sena’s chief whip

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has proposed that Viplove Bajoria be made the whip of the Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, while the faction led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has sought the appointment of Vilas Potnis.
Currently, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MLC Anil Parab is the party’s chief whip in the House.
Both the factions of Shiv Sena have sought the appointment of their chief whip in the Upper House, official sources said on Tuesday, adding that the Presiding Officer of the House is looking into the legal technicalities of the matter, arising due to the Election Commission order allotting the name Shiv Sena and its symbol (bow and arrow) to the Eknath Shinde camp.
While the Uddhav faction has more number of MLCs in the Council the Shinde faction has more MLAs in the Assembly.
Following the Election Commission order, the Presiding officer of the Maharashtra Legislative Council is looking into technical aspect in the appointment of the chip whip of the party as the official ‘Shiv Sena’ name belongs to the Shinde faction, however, it does not have sufficient MLCs in the House to be able to defeat the numbers of the Uddhav
faction.
“The Legislative Council secretariat has received letters on the issue but the presiding officer has not taken any decision on them yet. So it would not be correct to say that anyone is appointed as Chief whip of Shiv Sena. The matter is still being considered by the presiding officer as per legal provisions,” sources said.
Bharat Gogawale, the Shinde faction whip in the State Assembly said, “At the moment the name of the party has become ours, the symbol of the party has become ours, so we have named Viplove Bajoria as Chief Whip. Even though we have fewer members in the Legislative Council at present, it would seem that this picture will change in the coming time and our number will increase there as well.