Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has recognized Rahul Shewale as the Shiv Sena leader in the Lower House of Parliament.
Speaking to reporters here, Shinde said Shiv Sena MPs have supported his stand to uphold the ideals of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray. "Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has recognized Rahul Shewale as the Shiv Sena leader in the Lower House," he said. Shinde was flanked by 12 Shiv Sena Lok Sabha members who had written to Speaker Om Birla to change the leader of the parliamentary party.
Rahul Shewale, the new leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, said, "Uddhav Thackeray was keen on realigning with the BJP, but went back on his word... We had also asked Thackeray not to support Margaret Alva for the VP's post, but our views were ignored," he added.
The Shiv Sena has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha of whom 12 are lending their support to the Shinde camp. Twelve Lok Sabha members of the Shiv Sena, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde, earlier met Speaker Om Birla and requested him to change the party's floor leader in the Lower House of Parliament.
The rebel Shiv Sena MPs met Birla a day after the party's floor leader, Vinayak Raut, gave a letter to the speaker, asking him not to entertain any representation from the rival faction. "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," Hemant Godse, one of the 12 MPs of the Shinde faction who met Birla, said.
Raut, in his letter submitted to the speaker on Monday night, had made it clear that he was the "duly appointed" leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party and Rajan Vichare was the chief whip.
