His remarks come amid a rebellion in Thackeray-led Sena after six of the party’s nine Lok Sabha MPs wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking his approval to be recognised as a separate bloc in the House.
Photo:IANS
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday took a dig at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, saying that now people won’t have to say ‘Shiv Sena-Shinde faction’ anymore as only one Shiv Sena remains.
“Earlier, people had to say ‘Shiv Sena-Shinde faction’ after Eknath Shinde ji’s name. But now no faction remains anymore… there is only one Shiv Sena,” Shah said while addressing a gathering in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
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His remarks come amid a rebellion in Thackeray-led Sena after six of the party’s nine Lok Sabha MPs wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking his approval to be recognised as a separate bloc in the House.
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The rebel MPs also skipped UBT Sena’s parliamentary party meeting held on Thursday, prompting disciplinary action and a show cause notice for allegedly violating the whip.
They are expected to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which is a part of the BJP-led NDA.
The Six MPs who have rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray are Sanjay Jadhav, Nagesh Aashtikar, Sanjay Dina Patil, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar, Sanjay Deshmukh, and Bhausaheb Wakchaure.
Shiv Sena (UBT) seeks expulsion of rebel MPs
After the MPs skipped Thursday’s meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP and Uddhav Thackeray loyalist, Sanjay Raut, said that steps had been initiated to seek action against them.
“The process for taking action has started,” he told reporters.
Raut said that if the Speaker of Lok Sabha functions according to the law, the rebel MPs would be disqualified.
“We will make every effort to get them disqualified. If the Speaker of the Lok Sabha works according to the rules, the law, and the Supreme Court’s directives, these people will be disqualified,” he said.
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