INDIA: 53 of the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs in Maharashtra have received show-cause letters, including 39 members of the Eknath Shinde faction and 14 members of the Uddhav Thackeray faction.
Santosh Bangar, one of the 14 MLAs from the Thackeray camp, switched to the Shinde camp on July 4, the day of the floor test of the latter’s administration. Both sides’ MLAs attested to receiving the showcase notice.
Both sides have demanded the disqualification of the legislators from both parties, accusing one another of disobeying the party whip during the Speaker’s election and the trust vote on July 3 and 4, respectively.
Aaditya Thackeray, the son of former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, is not on the list of MLAs requesting the Shinde camp to be disqualified.
According to the Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (disqualification on the grounds of defection) regulations, the notices have been issued. The lawmakers have been asked to defend their position within seven days.
In the 288-member Assembly, which now has 287 members due to the death of a Sena lawmaker, the Shiv Sena has 55 MLAs. 99 MLAs opposed the motion of confidence, while 164 MLAs voted in favour of it during the trust vote.
After winning the trust vote in the state Assembly on July 4, the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena issued a notice to 14 legislators from the Uddhav Thackeray camp for violating a whip issued by the Sena whip and Shinde loyalist Bharat Gogawale.
Sunil Prabhu, a member of the Thackeray faction, was replaced by Gogawale as the Shiv Sena’s chief whip a day before the floor test by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar.
The Maharashtra Assembly chose Rahul Narvekar, a member of the BJP, as Speaker on July 3. Rajan Salvi of the Shiv Sena, who received 107 votes, defeated him after receiving 164 votes.
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