Maharashtra: Sena vs Sena whip war reaches Upper house

Making new moves, the Shiv Sena factions moved the turf war between them to the Upper house on Tuesday, with the Shinde group appointing Viplav Bajoria as its Chief Whip, while the Thackeray group sent Vilas Potnis's name for the chairman's clearance.

It was known on the second day of the session that the Shinde Sena had broken the notion that it did not have an ally in the Upper house where the other group has 12 members as well as the Opposition leader. On Tuesday, Bajoria turned out to be the first MLC to switch sides officially when his name was conveyed to the deputy chairman Neelam Gorhe, who is loyal to Uddhav Thackeray and is also a member of the Council.

In a counter move, the former CM's party conveyed to Gorhe that it has appointed Vilas Potnis in place of Anil Parab as its new Whip, and Sachin Ahir as deputy group leader. Now, it will be interesting to see Gorhe's approval coming by. All this happened even as the hearing in the Supreme Court took place in New Delhi. The hearing will resume on Wednesday.

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Whips are the party-appointed legislators, who issue specific instructions to their fellows in the House. Violation invites disciplinary action. After the Shinde group was approved as the parent party, the Supreme Court had asked it to not issue whip so that legislators from the rival group get immunity from action in case of violation. But Shinde has issued instructions to all Shiv Sena MLAs, including those from Thackeray group, to attend the ongoing budget session. The Thackeray group hasn't dishonoured the whip, but maintained that it is not bound by the rival group's orders and will move the SC.

The election commission-approved Shiv Sena has maintained that all Shiv Sena MLAs, across both factions, are bound by any whip issued, adding that it will not take any action for at least two weeks if the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) legislators defied it. The other group said that no whip could be issued till the appeal against the ECI was decided by the apex court.

Any whip, if issued in the Upper House where the Opposition MVA is in majority, can provide the government safeguard against any untoward move such as a no-confidence motion or in case of division (vote) that is demanded by the Opposition.