Mumbai: The Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena has issued a whip to all MLAs asking them to attend the meeting ahead of the budget session, scheduled on February 27.
Bharat Gogavale, the chief whip of Shiv Sena on Sunday said the party has issued the whip to all MLAs and everyone has to be present at the meeting, which will be held under the leadership of chief minister Shinde. He even warned of action against the MLAs who ignore the whip.
The whip has left the MPs and MLAs from Uddhav Thackeray faction in a spot as defying the whip may lead to disqualification of their membership. The Election Commission on Friday had allotted the party's name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde faction with Thackeray accusing the poll panel of "murdering democracy".
Gogavale said the whip is common prior to the budget session and all members elected under the 'bow and arrow' party symbol have been invited to attend the meeting.
A total of 55 MLAs have been elected under the Shiv Sena symbol. Also, there are 12 members of the Legislative Council. Out of this, 40 MLAs are with the Shinde faction and the remaining 15 MLAs and 12 Legislative Council members are with the Thackeray faction.
According to political analysts, the Shinde faction is using the whip as a ploy to attract the MLAs owing allegiance to Thackeray to their side. Although the Election Commission has stated that the Shinde faction is the real Shiv Sena, the Supreme Court hearing on the issue is scheduled on February 21. Thus, it is unlikely that the whip can be imposed on the Thackeray faction before the court's verdict.
Even as the verdict is awaited, the basic intention of the Shinde faction is to leave their opponents in dilemma. Gogavale is one of the leaders who do not have any political background. His journey is from sarpanch to MLA and now he is the leader of the rebel Eknath Shinde faction in the Shiv Sena.
He was born in a small village named Pimpalwadi in a remote area of Mahad. He did his post-tertiary education at the Multipurpose Technical High School of Shivaji Educational Institution, Ghatkopar East. He studied in this school till class 9. His association with Shiv Sena goes back to 1992-93.
