Maharashtra Deputy Speaker likely to send disqualification notices to 16 rebel MLAs

Mumbai, Jun 24: Maharashtra's Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal is likely to send disqualification notices to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs tomorrow, sources have said.

The disqualification hearing may take place on Monday, and the rebels will have to be present in Mumbai, sources added.

The Shiv Sena has sent the names of four more rebel MLAs to the Maharashtra Assembly deputy speaker for initiating action of disqualification against them, a senior leader said on Friday evening.

The party will also issue notices to 16 MLAs of the rebel faction and ask them to respond by Monday, said Sena MP Arvind Sawant here.

The four legislators whose names were forwarded to the deputy speaker were Sanjay Raymulkar, Chiman Patil, Ramesh Bornare and Balaji Kalyankar, he said.

"Despite issuing a letter to them, none of them attended party meeting on Wednesday evening here in Mumbai," Sawant said.

The party has already given names of 12 MLAs to the deputy speaker including leader of the rebel camp Eknath Shinde, seeking their disqualification.

As the crisis continued, the rebels' group led by Minister Eknath Shinde claimed the support of around 40 MLAs leaving the Shiv Sena with 17 legislators.

Meanwhile, the rebel camp also filed a notice on June 21 to move a motion for the removal of Deputy Speaker Narhari Jirwal from his post. The rebel group said that Deputy Speaker Narhari Jirwal accepted Uddhav Thackeray's demand for the removal of Shinde and disqualification of 15 MLAs without consulting the other side.

Earlier in the day, the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly approved Sena's proposal to appoint MLA Ajay Choudhary as the leader of the legislature party in the state assembly.

The total strength of the Maharashtra Assembly is 287 and the majority, in the event of a trust vote, is 144. The ruling coalition of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress has 169 seats. If the MLAs led by Shinde do resign, then the Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) strength will fall below the majority mark, leading to the possible collapse of Uddhav Thackeray-led government.Live TV