Mumbai: The Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat has sent notices to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, to submit their replies to the Shiv Sena’s petition seeking their disqualification for breach of whip. The petition was submitted by the Shiv Sena to the deputy speaker, Narhari Zirwal, after the rebels failed to turn up at the meeting convened by the party president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The notices were served after a marathon meeting chaired by Zirwal with Shiv Sena MPs Arvind Sawant and Anil Desai and Maharashtra Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni late on Friday night.
The notice signed by the state legislative secretary, Rajendra Bhagwat, reads, “As per The Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Grounds of Defection) Rules, 1986, send in your written submissions by 5.30pm on June 27 to Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal. Also, carry the necessary papers and documents on the basis of which you will make your arguments.” It further informs, “If you won’t submit your written submission with necessary documents, it will be considered that you have no submission to make and thereafter, necessary action will be taken in this regard.”
The list of 16 legislators includes Eknath Shinde, Bharat Gogawale, Sandipan Bhumre, Abdul Sattar, Sanjay Shirsat, Yamini Jadhav, Anil Babar, Balaji Kinikar, Tanaji Sawant, Prakash Suve, Mahesh Shinde, Lata Sonawane, Chimanrao Patil, Ramesh Bornare, Sanjay Raimulkar and Balaji Kalyankar.
Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said despite having been issued a letter, none of them had attended the party meeting held in Mumbai on Wednesday evening. Sawant said, “The party has already given the names of 16 MLAs to the deputy speaker, including that of their leader, Eknath Shinde, seeking their disqualification. Now, only Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray can decide about allowing them to return to the Sena, otherwise the party doors are closed to them forever. They have betrayed the saffron flag,” he added.
Rebel camp rejoinder
Reacting to the disqualification notices served to 16 rebel MLAs for abstaining from a party meeting, Shinde camp spokesman and former minister Deepak Kesarkar said they would reply to the notices.
Kesarkar said the legislators who were camping at Guwahati’s Radisson Blu Hotel hadn’t left the party or departed from the ideology of the party founder Balasaheb Thackeray.
“We are still in the Shiv Sena; there’s a misunderstanding that we’ve left the party. We’ve just separated our faction. We had the two-thirds majority to follow the path we wanted. Our new leader was chosen by the majority. They don’t have more than 16-17 MLAs,” the rebel MLA said. “There’s no need to merge, our faction will be given different recognition and we aren’t merging with any other party,” he noted.
