The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Wednesday nominated Rajan Vichare as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, replacing MP Bhavana Gawali, party leader Sanjay Raut said. Raut is the Leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party.
Vichare represents the Thane Lok Sabha constituency. Incidentally, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also hails from Thane.
Gawali, who represents the Yavatmal-Washim LS constituency in eastern Maharashtra, was one of the Sena MPs to suggest that the Sena ally with the BJP again amid the rebellion led by Eknath Shinde.
The Shiv Sena has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha and three in the Rajya Sabha.
Here's all you need to know about Rajan Vichare:
Rajan Vichare (born 1 August 1961) is an Indian politician and a Shiv Sena member of parliament representing Thane, Maharashtra in the 17th Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian Parliament). He has also previously been a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 2009-14.
Vichare has been in association with Shiv Sena since his childhood. Coming from a middle-class family and having worked in various blue-collar jobs, in 1985, he became a full-time worker of Sena. He is an admirer of politician Anand Dighe. Though he was chosen to contest 2014 lok sabha elections from Thane.
2006: Mayor of Thane
2009: Elected to Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
2014: Elected to Lok Sabha
2019: Elected to Lok Sabha
Whips played a crucial role in the recent political crisis which culminated in the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government and Eknath Shinde taking oath as the new chief minister.
The factions led by Shinde and Thackeray had issued whips for voting during the election of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the trust vote of the Shinde-led government. The validity of the whips is being contested by each other.
(with agency inputs)
