A party can’t have 2 whips: Narwekar

Mumbai: Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar has said there is only one Shiv Sena legislative party in the state legislature and its MLAs will have to adhere to the whip issued by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led camp’s whip Bharat Gogavale, recognised by him.

Speaking to a news channel on Thursday, Narwekar said he has diligently followed the Supreme Court’s guidelines while giving his judgment on the cross-petitions by Sena factions seeking disqualification of each other’s MLAs following a split in the party in 2022, and his decision is “tenable”. Narwekar has come under intense criticism from the opposition, especially the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) for recognising the Shinde outfit as the “real” Shiv Sena. Thackeray has termed the verdict a “murder of democracy” and said his party will move the Supreme Court against it.