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Sena vs Sena in Supreme Court: Uddhav says original party with him; Shinde denies defection
Arguing for the Uddhav Thackeray faction, senior advocate Kapil Sibal in the Supreme Court said a political party is decided by the Election Commission. 'You can't declare a political party sitting in Guwahati," he said.
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Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, in the Supreme Cpurt argued that the Eknath Shinde faction can not claim to be the original party. "You can't claim that you are the political party. And you say you are the political party sitting in Guwahati. Political party is decided by the Election Commission. You can't declare sitting in Guwahati.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Uddhav side, said, the only defence available to the Eknath Shinde camp is a merger with the BJP which they are not claiming.
A bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Hima Kohli heard the petitions filed by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde faction and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray faction -- over the political crisis.
Appearing for the Eknath Shinde faction, Harish Salve said, "In India, we confuse political parties with some leaders. I belong to Shiv Sena. My chief minister refuses to meet me...I want a change of CM. This is not anti-party, this is intra-party."
"If there are a larger number of MLAs who are not satisfied with the way Chief Minister is functioning and want a change, why can they not say that there should be fresh leadership contest?" Salve said.
Salve argued that supporters of Eknath Shinde have not given up the membership of the party and not attending a meeting can't be equated with vacating the membership.
Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the Shinde faction, said the new government camein not because the chief minister (Uddhav) was defeated in the floor test -- it was because he resigned. "If a chief minister refuses to take the floor test, it has to be presumed he does not have the majority," he said.
The CJI adjourned the case for tomorrow to finalise the legal issues involved.
(With inputs from Bureau, LiveLaw)
