Shiv Sena appoints Rajan Vichare as Chief Whip in Lok Sabha in place of Bhavana Gawali

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Wednesday nominated Rajan Vichare as the party's Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha in place of MP Bhavana Gawali.

"It is to inform you that Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party has nominated Rajan Vichare, MP (LS) as Chief Whip in Lok Sabha in place of Bhavana Gawali, MP (LS) with immediate effect," Sanjay Raut, the Leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party, said in a letter to Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi.

Interestingly, Vichare is a Shiv Sena MP from Thane, the stronghold of Maharashtra Chief Minister and rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.

Also, Vichare and Shinde have credited late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe for their political journey.

Gawali, who represents the Yavatmal-Washim LS constituency in eastern Maharashtra, was one of the Sena MPs to suggest that the party ally with the BJP again amid the rebellion led by Eknath Shinde.

Earlier in the day, rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil had claimed that 12 out of 18 Sena MPs would soon join the Eknath Shinde-led faction.

"We (rebel camp) have 40 out of 55 MLAs with us, and 12 out of 18 MPs are coming with us. So who does the party belong to? I have met four MPs personally. We also have 22 former MLAs with us," he said.

(With PTI inputs)