Santosh Bangar flips on Uddhav Thackeray, joins Eknath Shinde's faction ahead of Maharashtra floor test

Santosh Bangar, a Shiv Sena MLA of Uddhav Thackeray faction, joined the Eknath Shinde minutes ahead of the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Monday. Bangar was seen with Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and MLAs of his faction in the Maharashtra Assembly. According to news agency ANI, he left from hotel with the Shinde faction MLAs today morning for the state Assembly. The development is seen as a major setback for the former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. The Eknath Shinde faction now boasts of total 40 Shiv Sena MLAs. In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP currently has 106 MLAs. Shinde claims support of more than 50 MLAs including some independent lawmakers. Meanwhile, Bharat Gogawale, Chief whip of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) has given a petition to the Assembly Speaker, BJP’s Rahul Narwekar, for the suspension of 16 MLAs of the party for violation of whip. The 16 MLAs will be issued notice for suspension, confirms the Speaker’s office. On Monday morning, Uddhav Thackeray-led camp of Shiv Sena moves Supreme Court challenging the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s action of recognising the whip of chief minister Eknath Shinde group as the whip of Shiv Sena. Supreme Court has posted the matter for hearing on 11 July. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.