Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) rebel MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. This decision raised the Shinde faction’s strength to 13 MPs and reduced Uddhav Thackeray’s faction to just 3 members in the Lower House.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a circular acknowledging the revised party position just ahead of the Parliament’s Monsoon Session.
The Speaker allowed 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs who formed a group called the NCPI to sit separately, though their formal merger is pending official clearance.
With the induction of the 6 MPs, the Shinde-led Sena has become the third-largest constituent of the NDA. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has since challenged the Speaker’s decision in the Supreme Court.
News Edit KV Raman
