From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Instead of acting on the notice in hand over defection of deputy CM Ajit Pawar and eight others, Maharashtra Assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar on Saturday cracked the whip giving seven days to 40 MLAs from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and 14 from the Uddhav Thackeray party, asking for responses to disqualification petitions filed against them over a year after the split.
The letters were given to 54 MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray. However, no notice was served on Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Rutuja Latke, who was elected after the Shiv Sena split last year.
The news comes only a day after Narwekar announced that he had received a copy of the Shiv Sena’s constitution from the Election Commission of India and that hearings on the disqualification petitions filed against 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including CM Shinde, will begin shortly.
