In a major setback to the Uddhav Thackeray faction,?Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar today pronounced that the Eknath Shinde faction was the real Shiv Sena. Narvekar also acknowledged that according to the 1999 version of the party constitution, the Sena 'Pramukh' (president) did not hold the power to remove anyone from the leadership structure which constitutionally nullified?Eknath Shinde's removal from the party by the then-president Uddhav Thackeray.

Narwekar also mentioned that the 2018 constitution of the party granted the?president the power of?removal?but that constitution was not submitted to EC and therefore was?considered invalid. Instead, the verdict was?pronounced based on the 1999 version of the party constitution.

Speaker Narwekar on Wednesday delivered the verdict on the disqualification petitions against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and several MLAs whose rebellion had split the Shiv Sena in June 2022. While reading out the verdict, Narwekar asserted that the Shiv Sena Constitution submitted to the Election Commission would be considered as the real one.

Narwekar pronounced his verdict on 34 petitions that the two rival Shiv Sena factions have filed against one another seeking the disqualification of 54 MLAs in total, arising out of the June 2022 split. The verdict, based on 34 petitions filed, has been clubbed into six groups.

While the?deadline set by the Supreme Court for delivering the verdict was December 31, 2023, the court gave a 10-day extension and set January 10 as the new date for a decision.

What Is The Disqualification Matter About ?

In June 2022, current Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and several MLAs rebelled against the then CM Uddhav Thackeray, leading to a split in the Shiv Sena and the collapse of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling alliance which also comprised the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.

Later, cross-petitions were filed by the Shinde and Thackeray factions before the speaker's office seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs under anti-defection laws.

The rebellion eventually led to Eknath Shinde becoming the chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Devendra Fadnavis of BJP was sworn in as Eknath Shinde's deputy.

Timeline

-June 21, 2022: After Eknath Shinde and a group of Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against then CM Uddhav Thackeray, Uddhav’s faction passed a resolution removing Shinde as the leader of the legislature party and appointed Ajay Choudhari in his place. Sunil Prabhu was appointed the chief whip of the party.

-Same day: On June 21 itself, the Shinde faction passed a resolution that Shinde would continue to lead the legislature party and appointed Bharatshet Gogawale as the chief whip. Rahul Narwekar, who was elected Speaker after the collapse of the MVA government, accepted the resolution on July 3, 2022.

-Two days later: After the split in the Sena, the first set of disqualification pleas was filed against Eknath Shinde and 15 other MLAs for not attending a meeting that Sunil Prabhu, the chief whip appointed by Uddhav faction, had convened.

-June 27, 2022: Another set of disqualification pleas was filed against 22 more MLAs of the Shinde-led faction, following which petitions were filed against two more MLAs, bringing the total number to 40.

In tit-for-tat, the Shinde Sena filed petitions seeking the disqualification of 14 Shiv Sena (UBT) legislators. Sunil Prabhu challenged these counter-petitions in the Supreme Court.?

Whose Shiv Sena Is It?

The two sides have been at loggerheads with each other about being recognised as the ‘real Shiv Sena’. They had approached the Election Commission of India to stake claim over the party's name and symbol.

The Election Commission gave the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde-led faction, while the one headed by Thackeray was to be called Shiv Sena (UBT) with its symbol being a flaming torch.

Functionaries from both factions had said they would approach the Supreme Court in case of an unfavourable verdict from the Speaker.