In a major blow to the Uddhav faction in Maharashtra, the Speaker on Wednesday announced that the Shinde faction was the real Shiv Sena when the party founded by Balasaheb Thackeray split between Shinde and Thackeray factions. Delivering the verdict of the Sena versus Sena case, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday said Uddhav Thackeray had no power to remove Eknath Shinde from the post of legislature party leader – according to the Shiv Sena constitution. As the Speaker read out the lengthy verdict, he said the constitution of the party was relevant to identify the leadership structure of the party. The leadership structure, in turn, is relevant to identify which Shiv Sena faction was the actual party.
Sena versus Sena case: Follow LIVE updates
The first reaction to the verdict came from Jitendra Awhad (NCP-Sharad Pawar faction) who said that the post of Assembly Speaker is the highest but Rahul Narvekar has brought down the dignity of the post. "MLA disqualification hearing will be held today but the Speaker of the Assembly never understood before that whatever papers were scrutinized should also have been shown to the countrymen through live view. How does the Assembly Speaker himself go to the residence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even before the disqualification? The post of Assembly Speaker is the highest but Rahul Narvekar has brought down the dignity of the post," he said.
The Uddhav faction already approached the Supreme Court after the Speaker met chief minister Eknath Shinde ahead of today's verdict and said it would be a fixed match. "The first thing is that we saw that the Speaker meeting the Chief Minister ahead of the verdict. Then it seeks to give the impression that the one who had to impart justice went to the accused. It has never happened in history," former minister and Maharashtra MLA Aaditya Thackeray said.
Sena versus Sena: A timeline
{{/usCountry}}The Uddhav faction already approached the Supreme Court after the Speaker met chief minister Eknath Shinde ahead of today's verdict and said it would be a fixed match. "The first thing is that we saw that the Speaker meeting the Chief Minister ahead of the verdict. Then it seeks to give the impression that the one who had to impart justice went to the accused. It has never happened in history," former minister and Maharashtra MLA Aaditya Thackeray said.
Sena versus Sena: A timeline
{{/usCountry}}The power struggle started in 2022 when Eknath Shinde along with the support of around 50 MLAs declared a rebellion against then-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray
June 2022: Shinde declared rebellion and went to Assam with his supporters and then staked a claim to the government with the help of the BJP.
June 29, 2022: The Supreme Court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Assembly after the Maharashtra Governor asked Uddhav to prove his majority. Uddhav Thackeray resigned from the CM post.
June 30, 2022: Eknath Shinde became the chief minister.
July 4, 2022: Eknath Shinde won the floor test in the assembly.
October 2022: The Election Commission froze the bow and arrow symbol of the Shiv Sena.
February 2023: The Election Commission gave the bow and arrow symbol to the Shinde faction.
May 2023: A five-judge Constitution bench had held that it could not disqualify the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minster because Uddhav resigned before facing the floor test
December 15, 2023: The Supreme Court extended till January 10 the time for the Speaker to pronounce a verdict on disqualification petitions against MLAs including Shinde.