12 Shiv Sena MPs shift allegiance to Shinde, claim Uddhav Thackeray sought alliance with BJP
New Delhi, Jul 19: After the Maharashtra assembly, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Tuesday suffered a fresh jolt with 12 of its 19 Lok Sabha members shifting allegiance to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and declaring two-term member Rahul Shewale as their leader in the lower house.
Shewale, the leader of the rebel faction of the Shiv Sena, claimed that they have aligned with the BJP as per the wishes of Thackeray, who was himself making similar efforts in June last year but backtracked later.
The Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, however, rubbished claims made by Shewale.
The 12 Lok Sabha members also wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla identifying Shewale as their leader, expressing no confidence in incumbent Vinayak Raut and retaining five-term member Bhawna Gawli as the chief whip.
The letter came a day after the Thackeray camp had written to the Speaker asserting that Vinayak Raut is the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha and Rajan Vichare is the chief whip. It also urged the Speaker not to entertain any representation from the rival faction.
Addressing a press conference flanked by the 12 Lok Sabha members, Shinde claimed that the Lok Sabha Speaker had recognised Shewale as the Shiv Sena leader in the lower house. However, there was no confirmation in this regard from the Speaker's office.
Shinde asserted that the 12 Lok Sabha members were following the ideals of Balasaheb Thackeray and were the original Shiv Sena. The faction is also learnt to have staked a claim on the parliamentary party office in Parliament.
"I welcome the stand taken by 12 Lok Sabha members of the Shiv Sena in supporting us. Our stand (of aligning with the BJP) was supported by 50 MLAs. We also received support from the party workers as well as people of the state," Shinde said.
Shewale, a two-term member from Mumbai South Central, said Shiv Sena MPs had asked Thackeray in June last year to realign with the BJP as it would be difficult for them to win the 2024 parliamentary elections if the alliance with Congress and NCP continued.
Shewale claimed that Thackeray had told the Shiv Sena MPs that he too was keen on realigning with the BJP and had made a lot of efforts in that direction last year.
However, the decision to suspend 12 BJP MLAs from the Maharashtra assembly for one year in July last year created doubts in the BJP ranks about the sincerity of the Sena's desire to revive the alliance with the BJP.
Shewale claimed that Thackeray had presented the MPs with three options an alliance with the BJP, going it alone and continuing with the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi coalition with Congress and NCP.
"We have merely chosen the first option suggested by Thackeray," he said.
The Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena rejected the claim.
"There was no talk of Shri Uddhav ji wanting to get back into the previous alliance at the MPs meet, so that's obfuscation to justify deceit," Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi said.
Shiv Sena has 19 members in the Lok Sabha, including one from Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and three members in Rajya Sabha.
Members who have declared support for Shinde include Shewale, Bhawna Gawli, Sadashiv Lokhande, Hemant Godse, Hemant Patil, Rajendra Gavit, Sanjay Mandalik, Shrikant Shinde, Shrirang Barne, Prataprao Jadhav, Dhairyasheel Mane and Krupal Tumane.
The Lok Sabha members with Thackeray are Vinayak Raut, Rajan Vichare, Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Jadhav, Gajanan Kirtikar, Arvind Sawant and Kalaben Delkar. Rajya Sabha members Sanjay Raut, Anil Desai and Chaturvedi are with Thackeray.
Meanwhile, police in Maharashtra have beefed up security at the office of Shiv Sena MP Krupal Tumane and some of the other Sena parliamentarians.
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'Engineered narratives': West Bengal guv on alleged molestation charges against him
Kolkata, May 2: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not be cowed down by “engineered narratives” and the "truth shall triumph” after TMC leaders claimed that a woman working at Raj Bhavan levelled allegations of molestation against him.
In a statement, the Governor said, “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,”
To the Raj Bhavan staff "who expressed solidarity with him following some derogatory narratives that were circulated by two disgruntled employees as agents of political parties," a communication by Raj Bhawan said.
The Governor’s statement came after senior TMC leaders claimed this evening in a series of social media posts that the woman, who had levelled the allegations, has been taken to a police station to complain against Bose.
Though police sources said they received a verbal complaint, there was no official word on whether a formal complaint had been registered.
“BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose was accused of molesting a woman. How utterly appalling and Horrifying. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today. The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said in a post on X.
Fellow TMC MP Saket Gokhale also posted on his X account regarding the issue.
West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said it is “shameful” that the Governor has maligned his post and has used it to “torture a woman”.
“It is appalling and shocking to see such an incident. This is the same Governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about women’s rights and Nari Shakti. This is shameful that the Governor sought undue advantages in the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow to react on this issue,” she said.
According to sources in the Governor's House, the "woman employee with the help of her alleged boyfriend who is also an employee of the Raj Bhavan was blocking complaints (from people) being sent to the Election Commission of India.
"When she was reprimanded for that, she went outside and alleged molestation. She is in the habit of throwing tantrums against her colleagues because of some disease," a Raj Bhavan official said.
The West Bengal Governor and the TMC government have shared an acrimonious relationship since he assumed office in November 2022 and had several run-ins on various issues.
The BJP said it has to be seen whether this a “conspiracy by the TMC” or has an “iota of truth in it”.
“We all know that the TMC is politically cornered on the issue of SSC scam and is looking for a breathing space. So this needs to be seen whether this is a conspiracy by the TMC or it has any iota of truth in it,” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj…
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 2, 2024
Shameful that a constitutional office holder should try to prejudice an impartial investigation by attacking the motive of the complainant. We have seen this happen in that infamous Saturday Hearing of the Supreme Court. Respect women! https://t.co/E6eJLQvFXO
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) May 2, 2024
