Lok Sabha speaker approves Shiv Sena merger, TMC rebel seats

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has approved a significant realignment of parliamentary groups, formally recognizing the merger of six rebel Shiv Sena MPs with a rival faction and granting separate seating to 20 lawmakers who broke away from the Trinamool Congress. The decisions, finalized on July 18, reshape the composition of the Lower House just before the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins on July 20.

The Speaker validated the switch of six MPs originally elected under the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) banner to the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The six MPs are Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Dina Patil, Nagesh Ashtikar, and Bhausaheb Wakchaure. They had publicly joined the Shinde camp in Mumbai on June 22. With this recognition, the Shinde faction's strength in the Lok Sabha rises to 13 members, while the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction is reduced to three.

In a separate but related decision, Birla approved a separate seating arrangement for 20 MPs who defected from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and have aligned themselves with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). However, the Speaker has not...