Shinde Sena MLAs submit 6,000-page replies to disqualification notice

The Thackeray faction’s replies also claim that it is the original Shiv Sena, as it has a greater number of elected representatives. Countering this, a Shinde faction leader said that the Thackeray faction had acted against the ideology of the party and its founder Bal Thackeray

Mumbai: Each one of the 40 MLAs from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena last week submitted a 6,000-page reply to assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar in response to the disqualification petitions against them. They have also demanded that each one be given a separate hearing, which means that the disqualification proceedings could go on for a long time. According to officials from the state legislature, the hearing is anyway unlikely to begin soon.

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The state legislature had on July 15 served notices to 54 Shiv Sena MLAs from both factions, asking them to submit their replies to the disqualification petitions. Forty MLAs from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) submitted their 242-page replies in the third week of July within the time limit given by the speaker.

There are five disqualification petitions filed from both sides, covering 54 party MLAs. The petitions from the Sena (UBT) have challenged the appointment of the new whip and the election of the speaker after the split in the Shiv Sena in June last year. The Shinde faction, on its part, has sought disqualification of the MLAs from the Thackeray faction for their failure to obey the whip issued by it.

In their replies, the Shinde Sena MLAs have again claimed to be the “real” Shiv Sena. “We have submitted supporting documents to prove our claim,” said a leader from the Shinde camp. “Some of the documents are from the petitions we submitted to the Supreme Court.”

The Thackeray faction’s replies also claim that it is the original Shiv Sena, as it has a greater number of elected representatives. Countering this, a Shinde faction leader said that the Thackeray faction had acted against the ideology of the party and its founder Bal Thackeray. “We have submitted the details of the party AGMs held in 2014 and 2019,” he added. “The party MLAs had written to Uddhav Thackeray about the possible split in the party because of its deviation from Hindutva. They have attached copies of these mails in their replies to the speaker.”

Kiran Pawaskar, general secretary of the Shiv Sena, claimed that the Shinde faction would win the case, as the Election Commission had already ruled in their favour regarding the name and symbol of the party.

After the notices served by the speaker, the Shinde faction MLAs had sought four weeks to submit their reply. Speaker Rahul Narwekar had allotted an extension of two weeks and asked them to submit their say by August 10.

When questioned, Narwekar said that as a quasi-judicial authority, he would take the decision without discussing the matter publicly. “It is not possible to say when the actual hearing will begin, but we will complete the proceedings expeditiously,” he said.

According to an official from the state legislature, the voluminous replies and the demand to hold individual hearings is expected to delay the proceedings. “The state legislature will bifurcate the submissions by both the factions based on the issues and contentions before the beginning of the hearing,” he said. “Time for the hearings will be given as per the issues individually or in groups. If the speaker accepts the demand of the Shinde faction for individual hearings, the ruling is likely to be delayed further.”