Thackeray vs Shinde Shiv Sena Rift Resolved: Shinde’s Group Officially Recognized as the “Real”

Thackeray vs Shinde Shiv Sena -Shinde hailed the decision as a triumph for the Constitution and democracy, while Thackeray’s faction, Shiv Sena (UBT), plans to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.

Although political analysts anticipated the verdict, opinions differ on which faction will benefit. They agree, however, that the ruling is unlikely to harm the Shinde-led government, which includes the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group).

In June 2022, Mr. Shinde and a group of MLAs openly opposed the then-Chief Minister, Mr. Thackeray, causing a division within the Shiv Sena party, originally established by the late Bal Thackeray. This internal strife not only fractured the unity within the Shiv Sena but also resulted in the collapse of the ruling coalition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi. This coalition, which included the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, in addition to the Shiv Sena, lost its grip on power due to the internal disagreements and the subsequent split within the Shiv Sena.

In a significant development on January 10, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar brought an end to the prolonged feud within the Shiv Sena party, marking the resolution of an 18-month-long clash between factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray. The speaker’s ruling, a considerable victory for Chief Minister Shinde, officially acknowledged his faction as the authentic “Shiv Sena” following the party’s split in June 2022.

The decision, announced after a 105-minute reading of the ruling, is seen as a triumph for the Constitution and democracy by Chief Minister Shinde. However, Thackeray’s faction, Shiv Sena (UBT), plans to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court. While political analysts foresaw the verdict, opinions vary on which faction will benefit. Nevertheless, they concur that the ruling is unlikely to adversely affect the Shinde-led government, which includes the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group).

During his ruling on the disqualification petitions filed by the rival factions, Speaker Narwekar highlighted several key points:

1. Narwekar declared CM Eknath Shinde’s faction as the “real” Shiv Sena due to their overwhelming majority of 37 out of 54 Sena MLAs when the factions emerged in June 2022.
2. The speaker rejected Thackeray’s faction’s request to disqualify 16 “rebel” MLAs of the Shiv Sena, including Shinde.
3. Narwekar stated that Sunil Prabhu of Sena (UBT) ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022, and Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group became the authorized whip.
4. He emphasized that no MLA is being disqualified, and all petitions seeking disqualification of MLAs are rejected.
5. Narwekar clarified that the provisions of the anti-defection law cannot be used by party leadership for dissent or indiscipline within a party, a key point as both factions had filed cross-petitions under this law.
6. Speaking on the leadership structure, the Speaker ruled that Uddhav Thackeray had no authority to remove Eknath Shinde from the post of the legislature party leader, as the Shiv Sena constitution designated the Rashtriya Karyakarini as the party’s supreme body.
7. Narwekar rejected the argument that the will of the party chief and the will of the party were synonymous.
8. The speaker considered the 1999 constitution submitted with the Election Commission of India as the valid document for deciding issues of leadership, ownership, dissent, and defection, dismissing the Thackeray group’s contention that the amended 2018 constitution should be relied upon.

In response to the verdict, Uddhav Thackeray termed it as the “murder of democracy” and declared that his party would challenge it in the Supreme Court. On the other hand, Eknath Shinde emphasized the importance of numbers in a democracy and highlighted the Election Commission of India’s allocation of the Shiv Sena name and symbol to his party. The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker to deliver his judgment on the disqualification petitions by January 10, with assembly polls in the state scheduled for the second half of 2024.

Thackeray vs Shinde Shiv Sena

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