Eknath Shinde Faction Is Real Shiv Sena In Assembly: Maharashtra Speaker Decides

In a blow to the Uddhav faction in Maharashtra, the Assembly Speaker on Wednesday decided that the Shinde faction was the real Shiv Sena when the party split between the Shinde and Thackeray factions in 2022.

Citing the party constitution, he said that Uddhav Thackeray had no power to remove Eknath Shinde from the post of legislature party leader.

This means Shinde, who has the support of 40 MLAs, will continue as the Chief Minister of the state.

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar delivered the verdict on the disqualification petitions against Chief Minister Shinde and several MLAs whose rebellion had split the Shiv Sena in June 2022.

"There is no consensus on the constitution submitted by both the parties (two factions of Shiv Sena) to the EC. The two parties have different points of views on leadership structure. The only aspect is the majority in the legislature party. I will have to decide the relevant constitution to be taken into account to the leadership structure that existed before the dispute," the speaker said.

Narwekar also said that Sunil Prabhu of the Sena (UBT) ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022, and Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group became the authorised whip.

Key points made by the Speaker

• The 2018 amended constitution of Shiv Sena cannot be considered as valid as it's not in the records of the Election Commission of India. As per Supreme Court orders, I can not delve into any other factor on which the Constitution is valid. As per records, I am relying on the 1999 constitution of Shiv Sena as the valid constitution.
• As per the Apex court both the factions have submitted different versions of the constitution party, then in that case what has to be taken into account, the constitution which was submitted to the ECI with the consent of both parties before the rival factions emerged...Before recording further conclusion it is imperative to reiterate that pursuant to the initiation of this disqualification, the Maharashtra Legislative Secretariat had a letter dated June 7 2023, requesting the Office of ECI to provide a copy of the party constitution/memorandum/rules.
• The constitution of Shiv Sena provided by ECI is the relevant constitution of Shiv Sena for the determination of which faction is the real political party.
• Also 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 can not remove anyone from the party. So 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.
• Shinde faction was the real Shiv Sena political party when rival factions emerged on 21st June 2022.

Shiv Sena Reaction

Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray termed the Speaker's verdict as a "murder of democracy" which has insulted the Supreme Court's order.

He said, "The Speaker's order that has come today is a murder of democracy and is also an insult to the decision of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had clearly said that the Governor had misused his position and made a wrong decision...We will fight this battle further and we have full confidence in the Supreme Court...Supreme Court will not stop without giving complete justice to the people and Shiv Sena..."

Thackeray added, "We will go among the people...We have been going among the people & we will fight together along with the people of the state."

After the rebellion in June 2022, Shinde went on to become the chief minister with the BJP's support. In July last year, the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party joined his government.

On May 11 last year, the Supreme Court ruled that Shinde would continue to be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra while stating that it could not reinstate the earlier Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government headed by Uddhav Thackeray as the latter chose to resign without facing a floor test in the wake of Shinde's rebellion.

Former minister Aaditya Thackeray said that he has never seen a "more shameless verdict of the tribunal that has murdered democracy."

It is evident that the regime of gaddars are against the constitution given to us by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. They want to re write the constitution to finish democracy.

Today the verdict has officially killed democracy in our state and the principals and pillars of the constitution. We will fight to restore democracy and to protect the nation's Constitution given to us by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. This verdict wasn't only about Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray. This is about our country's constitution and democracy.

We hope the Hon'ble Supreme Court will ensure that there will be protection for the Constitution and Democracy, against this disgraceful political fixed game," he wrote on X.