Thackeray holds “people’s court”, shows documents, videos to prove his case

MUMBAI: In an unusual move, Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday held a town hall or “people’s court” on the verdict of speaker Rahul Narwekar in the Shiv Sena MLAs disqualification case. Taking the fight against the Shinde-BJP government to the public, the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief exhibited proofs like documents from the Election Commission of India (EC) and videos of his appointment as party chief. While expressing hope of justice from the Supreme Court, he also dared the Shinde-Fadnavis government to face elections before the SC verdict.The town hall was held to demolish the basis of Narwekar’s verdict that the Shiv Sena belonged to chief minister Eknath Shinde, and Uddhav Thackeray had no authority as party chief. Narwekar had declared in his judgement that the EC had only the 1999 copy of the Shiv Sena constitution, and there was no record of the amendments in the party constitution which showed that Uddhav Thackeray was appointed party chief.To counter this, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab, in his presentation, showed videos of the party’s national executive meeting and its 2013 internal elections which approved the changes in the party constitution to appoint Thackeray as party chief and also gave him full authority to remove anyone from any post. Parab also exhibited a video of a 2018 party meeting and internal elections which were conducted as per EC rules.Parab also held up the EC’s acknowledgement to the Sena documents of 2013 and 2018 as well as the letters sent by the EC and state election commission to Uddhav Thackeray. “If the EC has no copy of the constitutional amendments, why did he write a letter to Uddhav Thackeray as Shiv Sena chief after 2013 onwards on various occasions?” he questioned. Parab also exhibited an EC list of recognised national parties with the name of their presidents, where the name of Uddhav Thackeray as president of the Shiv Sena figured.Advocates Aseem Sarode and Rohit Sharma explained the provisions of the anti-defection law and how CM Shinde and his supporters had violated it and were eligible for disqualification. Sarode read out the pertinent paragraphs from the SC judgement which termed the appointment of Bharat Gogawale as speaker “illegal” and which upheld the removal of Eknath Shinde from the post of leader of the Shiv Sena legislative party. Sarode also hailed the “people’s court”, saying, “If law is for the people, then we should speak about law in public. The SC will give justice but people should learn to love democracy after this judgement by speaker Rahul Narwekar.”Sharma said that MLAs were elected on the party symbol, as the original party nominated them and party leaders and workers worked hard to get them elected. “So the original party is more important than the legislative party,” he said. “The legislative party of any political party is temporary as it has a term of five years and changes after elections. But the original political party is a permanent body. So the claim of a majority in the legislative party is not acceptable.”Thackeray spoke about the Shinde faction’s approaching the Bombay high court to challenge Narwekar’s decision of not disqualifying the Thackeray faction MLAs. “Clearly, the Shinde faction has no confidence in its speaker,” he said. “It should move a no confidence motion against him in the house—I will support them.” Thackeray also pointed out that prime minister Narendra Modi in 2014 and 2019 formed the government with his letter of support and Devendra Fadnavis completed his term as chief minister during 2014-19 due to his letter of support.Harking back to the progressive history of Maharashtra, Thackeray said “Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, who wrote the Constitution of India, was from Maharashtra. Ramshastri Prabhune, who was famous for his fearless judgement against rulers, was from Maharashtra. It is very unfortunate that the conspiracy to end democracy in the country has begun from Maharashtra. This fight will decide the fate of democracy in the country. It will decide if the authority of the Supreme Court will continue or not.” Thackeray also said that he would check the possibility of filing a case against the EC.Shiv Sena MP and leader Gajanan Kirtikar, dismissing the press conference, said, “What is the use of calling a PC and making claims? If the Shiv Sena (UBT) has proof, they must submit it to the court. Why do they make claims before the press every time?”