Speaker Om Birla names Rahul Shewale as Shiv Sena leader in Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday named rebel Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale as the leader of the party in the Lower House of Parliament.

The decision was notified late in the night through a circular issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

At least 12 Lok Sabha members of the Shiv Sena had written to the Speaker, urging him to appoint Shewale as their leader in the Lower House, expressing no confidence in the incumbent Vinayak Raut.

Hindustan Times reported according to a senior official, the Speaker "looked at petitions by various MPs and went by legal precedent" (Birla followed the Delhi HC's precedent from the Chirag Paswan case, reported HT).

Bhavana Gawali retained her official status as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, reported ANI.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, with the 12 of the 19 Lok Sabha members from the Shiv Sena by his side, named Shewale as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.

The break in the Shiv Sena ranks in Parliament came a month after Shinde led a rebellion, walking out of the party with a large chunk of MLAs on June 20. The number of MLAs joining the Shinde camp from the Shiv Sena gradually rose to 40 out of the total 55.

Shinde was appointed chief minister on June 30 after incumbent Uddhav Thackeray quit the post in the wake of the rebellion.