Sena vs Sena Row: Settling the political conflict between the two factions of Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday pronounced the verdict on disqualification petitions filed by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) and Eknath Shinde Factions of the Shiv Sena. Narwekar, in his lengthy verdict, said that the Eknath Shinde faction is found to be the "real Shiv Sena" following the split in the party in June 2022.

Narwekar said that his decision was based on the 1999 party constitution submitted to the Election Commission and rejected Thackeray group's contention that the amended constitution of 2018 should be relied on. Narwekar further said that the 1999 constitution made the 'Rashtriya Karyakarini' (national executive) the supreme body, adding that Shiv Sena ‘pramukh' (chief) did not have the power to remove any leader from the party.

"In my view, the 2018 leadership structure (submitted with ECI) was not as per the Shiv Sena Constitution. Shiv Sena party chief as per the party Constitution cannot remove anyone from the party. Uddhav Thackeray removed Eknath Shinde or any party leader from the party as per the party Constitution. So the removal of Eknath Shinde by Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 is not accepted based on the Shiv Sena Constitution," the Speaker said.

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The Speaker also held that the then Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu ceased to reflect the will of the party to continue in the post, as the new Chief Whip Bharat Gogawale was the validly elected Chief Whip after the rival faction emerged.

Speaker's Decision On Disqualification Pleas:

Narwekar, in his 105-minute long reading of the key points of the ruling, also rejected the cross-petitions by both factions of the party seeking disqualifications of MLAs. Uddhav Thackeray had filed a plea to disqualify 16 Shiv Sena MLAs including Eknath Shinde, whose rebellion in June 2022 led to the collapse of the MVA government in Maharashtra, led by Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister. "All the petitions seeking disqualifications are rejected and no one is disqualified from any faction of Shiv Sena," he said.

Uddhav Thackeray's Reaction On Verdict:

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose father Balasaheb Thackeray formed the Shiv Sena, sharply reacted to the verdict and asserted that his faction "reject this verdict, and will challenge it in Supreme Court". Terming the verdict "murder of democracy", Uddhav Thackeray said that the apex court had given clear guidelines, but those were ignored by the Speaker while giving his ruling.

"The original case was about disqualification under the anti-defection law, but not one lawmaker from either side was disqualified," he said, adding, "The foundation on which the order stands is wrong. This is a murder of democracy and an insult to the Supreme Court."

Thackeray further said that his party will also examine if a contempt petition can be filed against the Speaker, adding that he would also request the Supreme Court to give its decision on the case before the elections.

'Verdict Not Surprising,' Says Sharad Pawar:

NCP chief Sharad Pawar, reacting to the verdict, said that it was "not at all surprising", but it should be challenged in the Supreme Court by the rival group led by Uddhav Thackeray. It was the collective opinion of all (Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents) that the verdict would not be pro-Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, he said.

"The people in the government, including Chief Minister Shinde, had on several instances spoken on what sort of decision would be coming and it shows they had an inkling about the verdict (going in their favour) and that assurance used to get reflected in their statements," said Pawar.

"Thackeray will have to go to the SC as looking at the wording of the judgement, there is enough scope to believe his faction will get justice in the top court," Pawar added.

Shinde Faction Celebrates:

Shortly after the verdict, Shinde supporters started celebrating their win by bursting firecrackers. Reacting to the verdict, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said numbers are important in democracy, and the Shiv Sena led by him has the numbers as against the rival faction. Shinde also said that the party chief's individual opinion cannot be the opinion of the entire party. "Even the Election Commission of India allotted the name and symbol of the Shiv Sena to his party," he said.

Maharashtra Minister and Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader Deepak Kesarkar said, "With this decision, democracy will be strengthened. The fact of this decision is that there should be democracy in the party as well. This is a landmark judgement. This decision was taken after analyses of all facts. It is a correct decision."


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