‘Party whip will apply to all MPs, Sena still part of NDA’

New Delhi/Mumbai: A formal announcement of the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision on the Shiv Sena group leader and chief whip, which may have a bearing on whether Uddhav Thackeray holds on to the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol, is expected on Wednesday.

- Akhilesh Singh, Chaitanya Marpakwar & Bharti Jain

However, sources said that the LS Speaker has accepted the claim of the Eknath Shinde group on the basis of the opinion given to the Supreme Court by the then Attorney General that disputes over leadership needed to be settled on the basis of numbers and the claim of majority group recognised.

They also said that a similar decision taken by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in the case of rival factions of the Lok Janshakti Party was subsequently upheld by the Delhi high court.

In any case, chief ministger Shinde, who was in the national capital on Tuesday, appeared to have little doubts about his group’s claim as he announced the recognition of Rahul Shewale and Bhawna Gawli as the leader and chief whip of the party in the Lok Sabha.