NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha member Shrikant Shinde, the son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, met Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday amid a buzz about a split in the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party.
The meeting of Shrikant Shinde, the Lok Sabha member from Kalyan, and Hemant Patil, the Lok Sabha member from Hingoli, with Birla came a day after Shiv Sena leader Vinayak Raut gave a letter to the speaker, asking him not to entertain any representation from the rival faction. It was not immediately clear whether Shinde and Patil had submitted any representation to the speaker.
At least 12 Lok Sabha members of the Shiv Sena are learnt to have been in touch with the Shinde faction and are keen to replace Raut, the current floor leader of the party, with Rahul Shewale.
Raut, in his letter submitted to the speaker on Monday night, had made it clear that he was the "duly appointed" leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party and Rajan Vichare was the chief whip.