Ahead of floor test, 1 more MLA joins Shinde faction; tally at 40

MUMBAI: Ahead of the floor test of the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government on Monday, one more Shiv Sena MLA from the Uddhav Thackeray camp joined CM Shinde's faction, taking its tally to 40.

The Shiv Sena currently has 55 MLAs in the 288-member state Assembly.

Santosh Bangar, the MLA from Kalamnuri in Hingoli district, on Monday morning switched over to the Shinde camp.

Earlier, in a jolt to Uddhav Thackeray ahead of the Eknath Shinde-led government's floor test, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar had on Sunday reinstated Shinde as the Shiv Sena legislature party leader, removing Ajay Chaudhary.

Narvekar also recognised the appointment of Bharat Gogawale from the Shinde camp as the chief whip of the Sena, removing Sunil Prabhu, who belongs to the Thackeray faction.

The development comes as a major setback to the Thackeray faction, which will be bound by the whip to be issued by Gogawale for the trust vote.

If these MLAs refuse to follow the whip, they face disqualification.