Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) Sena’s Member of Legislative Council and Deputy Chairperson in the Maharashtra state legislative council (Vidhan Parishad) Dr. Neelam Gorhe today joined the Shiv Sena party headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde today.

Even as Shinde formally welcomed Dr Gorhe into his party fold, controversy has arisen over the induction ceremony being held in the office of the deputy chairperson by the Chief Minister. The speaker and deputy chairperson posts are expected to be apolitical although they belong to particular political parties.

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Former speaker of the Congress party Nana Patole had formally resigned his post in the state legislature before he took charge as the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. Dr. Gorhe has another year of her tenure left as Deputy Chairperson of the state legislative council.

The induction ceremony being held at the political party office may have staved off the controversy from arising. Efforts to elicit a comment from the office of the secretary of law and justice in the Vidhan Bhavan as also other officials attached to the state legislature failed to evoke a response on the subject.

“Under Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena is poised in the right direction. I am desirous of working for the public good with both Shinde and the cooperation of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The Supreme Court as also the Election Commission of India (ECI) has held that the Shiv Sena under Eknath Shinde is the official legal Shiv Sena party. In 1998, 25 years ago, under the guidance of Hinduhriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray, I joined the Shiv Sena which was a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as it stood for Hindutva,,” Gorhe told media persons after being formally inducted into the Shiv Sena by Shinde and Fadnavis at the state secretariat.

Dr Gorhe added, “Under the BJP government in New Delhi in the NDA coalition the Ram temple, relief for women who suffered owing to triple talaq and hoisting of the Indian flag in Kashmir was quite simply accomplished. Steps have been initiated for the introduction of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) with honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah being politically astute and having a sound understanding on the subjects of national importance with the will to act.”

She also noted that the 1985 Supreme Court order in the Shah Bano case in favour of women was reversed in 1986 by the then Union government that brought in a law that legitimized triple talaq. The Maharashtra Chief Minister noted that the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the induction ceremony of Dr. Gorhe into the Shiv Sena party provided ample evidence of the fact that the relationship between the BJP and Shiv Sena was sound and there were no problems whatsoever in his government.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that he was present only in his personal capacity and long-term relations with Dr. Gorhe in the political landscape of Maharashtra.