In a recent development, Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has issued notices to four Lok Sabha MPs from the rival Sena faction, accusing them of disregarding the party’s directive by remaining absent during the discussion and voting on the Women’s Reservation Bill. Even though Shiv Sena had a schism after Shinde’s rebellion last year, the four MPs aligned with Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray are still officially part of the party in the Lower House of Parliament. The notice was directed at Vinayak Raut, Rajan Vichare, Omraje Nimbalkar, and Sanjay Jadhav. Rahul Shewale, the leader of Shiv Sena’s legislative party, addressed the issue, stating that these four MPs had disregarded the party’s directive to vote in favor of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, also known as the women’s reservation bill.
The party whip was issued on September 14, instructing MPs to be present in the House during the special session of Parliament from September 18 to 22. The notice, issued on Tuesday, criticized the absence of these MPs during the special session, implying their lack of seriousness concerning matters of national interest.
The Women’s Reservation Bill, which reserves a third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, was cleared by the Rajya Sabha last week. It had been previously approved in the Lok Sabha. In response to the possibility of the Shinde faction issuing a “whip notice” to the four MPs for their absence during the bill’s discussion and vote, Sanjay Raut, a leader from Sena (UBT), commented, “It is a trivial matter for us that they would issue a whip notice against four of our Lok Sabha members.” He further added that the lawmakers from the Shinde group should be aware that none of them are likely to win the next election.
