Sena approaches Speaker as faction of MPs set to break away

The Shiv Sena on Monday evening approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a plea that Vinayak Raut was the 'duly appointed' leader of its parliamentary party and urged him not to entertain any representation from the breakaway faction.

The letter submitted to the Speaker by Raut, the leader of the Shiv Sena parliamentary party, also made it clear that Rajan Vichare was the chief whip.

'You are therefore called upon not to acknowledge or entertain representation made by any other MP(s) or acknowledge or entertain any direction/whip issued by anybody else, falsely claiming to be the leader or the chief whip of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party,' Raut said.

The letter comes amid reports of an imminent split in the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party with at least a dozen Lok Sabha members, out of the total 19, seeking recognition as a separate group in the Lok Sabha.