Shinde Faction Declared Real Shiv Sena by Maharashtra Speaker

Mumbai: After over 18 months of the split in the Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday ruled that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction of the party was the real Shiv Sena.

Adjudicating cross petitions filed by the Shinde faction and the Sena group led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray for disqualification of each other’s MLAs under the anti-defection law, Narwekar said the Shinde faction had an overwhelming majority of 37 out of 55 MLAs when the party split in June 2022. As per the Speaker, the Shinde faction was the real political party on the day a parallel faction emerged.

After the split, Shinde formed the government in Maharashtra with the BJP and became the Chief Minister.

The tussle between the two factions of the Shiv Sena reached the Supreme Court which ruled in May 2023 that while it could not restore the MVA government because then CM Uddhav had resigned without facing a floor test, former Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was not right in calling a floor test assuming the MVA had lost the majority. The apex court upheld the power of the Speaker to adjudicate the cross petitions.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has allotted the gave the Shiv Sena name and bow and arrow symbol to the Shinde faction. Uddhav’s party is now named Shiv Sena UBT with a flaming torch as its symbol.

Narwekar dismissed disqualification petitions filed by both factions.

Addressing the media, Uddhav said the Speaker’s decision was a murder of democracy, and his party would move the Supreme Court against it.

NCP leader Sharad Pawar said Uddhav would have to approach the apex court as Narwekar had given precedence to the legislature party strength while deciding the contentious issue.

Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut termed the Speaker’s order a conspiracy and said it was a “black day for Marathi manush”.