All Uddhav Sena MLAs bound by Eknath Shinde-appointed party whip: Speaker Rahul Narwekar

A day after his verdict recognising the Eknath Shinde faction of the party as the real Shiv Sena at the time of the dispute in 2022, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said on Thursday that all MLAs of the legislature party are bound to follow the line of the party’s whip Bharat Gogawale. Choosing to go against the writ of the chief party whip in the Assembly could have repercussions that the legislators should then be prepared for.

Speaking to Marathi news channel ABP Majha, Narwekar said that Shiv Sena is a ruling party in the government and its MLAs are bound by its whip. “If someone takes a different stand, the decision is theirs and they are responsible for their consequences.”

On Wednesday, Narwekar recognised Shinde’s faction as the real Shiv Sena and Gogawale as the party whip. Speaking to the news channel, Narwekar said that one party cannot have two whips. “The whip will have to be followed by all MLAs in the legislature party,” he said.

This would imply that in all pertinent matters related to voting on key issues, the 16 MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena would be bound by the whip issued by Shinde faction’s Gogawale. Narwekar further said that all Uddhav Sena MLAs would now have to sit in the Treasury benches as per the seats assigned to them.

Notably, Gogawale’s appointment had been deemed illegal by the Supreme Court. In its verdict on May 11, 2023, the Supreme Court held that the Governor’s decision to order the floor test for the MVA government as well as the Speaker’s decision to appoint Gogawale was incorrect.

However, Narwekar argued that the Supreme Court did not deem Gogawale’s appointment as “permanently” illegal. “It (SC) said that I had recognised the whip chosen by the Sena legislature party instead of the political party.” The Speaker further added that in his verdict, he recognised the Shinde faction as the real party before endorsing its whip.

However, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab claimed that they were a different party and the whip would not apply to them. “The Election Commission has recognised Shiv Sena (UBT) as a party. The flaming torch election symbol is given. Hence it proves to be an independent party. There is no question of following anyone else’s party mandate,” Parab said, according to The Indian Express.