Shiv Sena row: Uddhav Thackeray faction moves SC against ruling in favour of Shinde group
Uddhav Thackeray
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, or UBT) faction on Monday (Jan 15) approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Maharashtra Speaker's decision to acknowledge the Eknath Shinde, who is now the chief minister, group as the real Shiv Sena.
The group is also contesting the decision to refuse to disqualify the members of the Shinde faction for defection as per the tenth schedule of the Constitution.
After the split in June 2022, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar declared the Sena bloc led by Shinde as the "real political party".
The speaker also rejected the Thackeray faction's request to disqualify 16 MLAs from the ruling camp, including Shinde.
Narwekar had said no party leadership can use provisions of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) to quell dissent or indiscipline within a party.
He had further said that the Shinde group had the support of 37 out of the total 54 Sena MLAs when the party split in June 2022.
UBT was formed in 2022 under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray with the Election Commission (EC) assigning it a new emblem that distinguished it from the main Shiv Sena.
It was one of two independent factions, the other being the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, led by Shinde. The whole saga was part of the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis until the EC certified the part led by Shinde as the official Shiv Sena structure in February 2023. The EC had given the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde-led faction.
Narwekar had said in his order on the disqualification petitions filed by the Shinde-led Sena and the rival Thackeray faction against each other's MLAs that Sunil Prabhu of the Sena (UBT) ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022 (when the party split) and legislator Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group was now the authorised whip.
Narwekar had said, "All the petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected. No MLA is being disqualified."
(With inputs from agencies)