A day after he was expelled from the Shiv Sena, former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane took the battle into the Thackeray camp by appointing one of his trusted lieutenants, Vinayak Nimhan, as the party’s whip in the Assembly.On Sunday, hours after he was thrown out, Rane had announced that he would line up the MLAs backing him on July 11, the first day of the monsoon session of the Assembly.Nimhan’s appointment is a move by Rane to manage party affairs in his favour on the floor of the House. But there’s a question mark over the legality of the move and there’s talk on whether he will be able to muster enough support from Sena MLAs.Rane claimed he had not yet received any formal communication on his dismissal and since the party’s whip Gajanan Kirtikar was unwell, he had appointed Nimhan. Kirtikar had a bypass surgery on June 13 and is recuperating.‘‘As the outgoing leader of opposition heading the Sena, I have the right to appoint the party whip. I have decided to convene a meeting of party MLAs this week to discuss vital issues,’’ Rane said.The Sena, however, swung into action to counter the move. A Kirtikar aide told The Indian Express that legal opinion had been sought to find out if the decision could be reversed or stayed.The party will also submit a letter to the Speaker stating that Rane overstepped his brief. ‘‘It is the right of the party to appoint a whip, not of the leader of the opposition,’’ a Sena functionary said. He said though Kirtikar had undergone a surgery, ‘‘he is fit to attend the Assembly right from July 11 and carry out business as usual.’’Rane, meanwhile, continued to target Uddhav Thackeray, saying he had been punished for airing grievances of the Sainiks. ‘‘I have been flooded with calls from the Sena rank and file,’’ he said, adding support was coming even from workers in districts outside Konkan, such as Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Nagpur, all thanking him for revolting against the Thackeray scion.His course of action remained unclear despite speculation that he would align with the NCP. During the day, he met Chhagan Bhujbal but there was no word on their discussion.Although Rane has insisted that the show of support in the Assembly would establish his position, it appears to be a tough ask. Principal secretary of the legislature secretariat, Vilas Patil, said as per a recent amendment, Rane would need the support of at least two-third of Sena MLAs for a legal split. Since the Sena has 63 MLAs, this would mean he would need at least 42 MLAs to split the party on the Assembly floor.Although a popular leader, Rane’s support base essentially remains the Konkan region comprising Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, which account for 31 Assembly seats. In the last polls, the Sena won 12 seats. The NCP, making significant inroads, won nine while the BJP took four and the Congress two.Of the eight MLAs openly supporting Rane and camping at his residence, four are from Konkan: Shankar Kambli (Vengurla), Ganpat Kadam (Rajapur), Subhash Bane (Sangameshwar) and Shyam Sawant (Shriwardhan). ‘‘There is no assurance (of any powerful position) to MLAs supporting me,’’ Rane said today, ‘‘they are supporting me as a matter of principle and are not doing it for anything else.’’
