New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said MPs had asked the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla to make Rahul Shewale the leader of the Shiv Sena in the lower house, which has been approved by Birla. 12 Shiv Sena MPs had met Speaker and asked that Rahul Shewale, a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray, should be replaced as floor leader by replacing Vinayak Raut.
Shinde asserted that the 12 Lok Sabha members were following the ideals of Balasaheb Thackeray and were the original Shiv Sena. The faction is also learnt to have staked a claim on the parliamentary party office in Parliament.
"I welcome the stand taken by 12 Lok Sabha members of the Shiv Sena in supporting us. Our stand (of aligning with the BJP) was supported by 50 MLAs. We also received support from the party workers as well as people of the state," Shinde said.
Shiv Sena has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha, out of which 12 support the Shinde camp. Twelve Lok Sabha members of Shiv Sena, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde, first met Speaker Om Birla and requested him to change the leader of the party in the lower house of Parliament. The rebel Shiv Sena MPs met Birla a day after party leader of the House Vinayak Raut delivered a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, asking him not to consider any request from the rival faction.
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Hemant Godse, one of the 12 MPs of the Shinde faction who met Birla, said, "Twelve Lok Sabha members of the Shiv Sena met Speaker Om Birla and requested him to appoint Rahul Shewale in place of Vinayak Raut as the party's floor leader."
Raut, in his letter submitted to the Speaker on Monday night, clarified that he is the "duly appointed" leader of the Shiv Sena parliamentary party and Rajan Vichare is the chief whip.