Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has requested that Viplove Bajoria be made the Shiv Sena's chief whip in the state Legislative Council, according to a letter he sent to the deputy chairperson. Currently, Anil Parab is the party's chief whip in the Upper House.

This move appears to be an attempt to further corner the faction led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Shinde gave the letter to Neelam Gorhe, who is part of the Thackeray camp. The Budget session of the Maharashtra legislature began on Monday. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shinde bloc in the state currently does not have a majority in the Upper House.

In the midst of the high decibel political and legal battle between rival Shiv Sena groups, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar has not received representation from any group claiming to be a separate party in the Lower House.

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The Speaker told PTI that there is only one Shiv Sena with 55 MLAs which is led by Shinde. Narvekar has approved the appointment of Shinde as the legislature party leader.

Bharat Gogawale, the Shiv Sena's chief whip in the state Assembly, issued a whip to all MLAs of the Shiv Sena asking them to "remain present full-time during the Budget session."

He said, "If any legislator does not follow it, he/she will face action."

The Election Commission has already allotted the name Shiv Sena and its bow and arrow symbol will remain with Chief Minister Shinde.

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Notably, during a recent Supreme Court hearing on the Shiv Sena leadership dispute, senior advocate N K Kaul assured the bench that the Shinde-led bloc would not take any steps to issue whip or initiate disqualification proceedings against Thackeray faction lawmakers for the time being.

This assurance came after senior advocate A M Singhvi raised concerns that failure to follow such directives would result in disqualification. Gogawale confirmed that the Shinde-led bloc had been asked not to take any action against the Thackeray camp, but could still issue a whip to ensure attendance during the session.

With agency inputs.