With EC decision, 16 MLAs from Uddhav faction to now shift to treasury benches

According to sources in the Shinde camp, the seating arrangement inside the Assembly will be reworked, and preference will be given to Cabinet ministers and senior MLAs for seats in the first row. According to the state legislative secretariat’s procedure, the group leader of each party submits the list of MLAs.

“Based on that list, seats are reserved for a particular party. Party’s group leader decides who sits where,” said an official from the legislative secretariat.

MLAs from the Uddhav Thackeray camp have been sitting with the Opposition with Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray sitting in the front row ever since the formation of the Shinde government in the state. Aaditya Thackeray is one of the rare first time MLAs to have been awarded a seat in the front row. Assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar had recognised two groups, making separate sitting arrangements for them.

“We are officially recognised as Shiv Sena now. All 56 MLAs will have to follow the whip issued by the legislative party, failing which, disciplinary action would be taken,” Sena MLA and chief whip Bharat Gogawale warned on Monday.

While MLAs from the Uddhav Thackeray faction are likely not to accept the whip issued by the Shinde camp, they will have to adhere to the sitting arrangement finalised by the legislative party, which is now controlled by Shinde. When asked about the issue, an MLA from the Shinde camp said that ‘no decision has been taken yet, but ministers will naturally occupy the first row, and senior MLAs will be given seats later’.

Meanwhile, after taking charge of the office on Monday, the Shinde camp MLAs removed the photographs of Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya from the office, only retaining Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s portrait there. Secretary of the Sena’s legislative office Vijay Joshi, who has been working since 2014 after retiring from his government job, said that the office staff was given a choice to whether they want to continue working there, and that everybody agreed to do so.