Uddhav Thackeray-led faction moves Supreme Court against Maharashtra Speaker’s decision that Shinde faction is ‘real’ Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) has approached the Supreme Court against the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s decision to dismiss disqualification petitions against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and supporting MLAs

The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) has approached the Supreme Court against the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s decision to dismiss disqualification petitions against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and supporting MLAs while holding them as the “real” Shiv Sena.

The Speaker’s decision came on January 10, nearly two years after Mr. Thackeray’s camp moved disqualification petitions against Mr. Shinde and his supporting legislators under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) of the Constitution in June 2022.

Also read | Maharashtra Speaker’s decision conflicts with SC ruling on factions

The Speaker discerned that the Mr. Shinde faction was the “real political party” from the legislative majority it had commanded at the time the rival factions emerged.

“‘Shinde faction’ was the ‘real Shiv Sena political party’ when the rival factions emerged on June 21, 2022,” Speaker Rahul Narwekar had announced.

The Speaker had also held that since ‘Shinde faction’ was the real political party, UBT faction’s allegations that Shinde faction violated the whip cannot be sustained.

The Speaker dismissed UBT’s claims that ‘Shinde faction’ had become ‘incommunicado’ with the SSLP (Shiv Sena Legislative Party) leadership after the ‘split’ as a “mere allegation”.