'Shinde's Shiv Sena Real, Uddhav Didn't Have Sole Authority': Speaker's Verdict

Speaker Rahul Narwekar also rejected disqualification pleas against MLAs of both Shinde and Thackeray factions.

Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena Real, Uddhav Thackeray Didn't Have Sole Authority: Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar Verdict

(Photo: The Quint)

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wedenesday, 10 January, announced his verdict on the matter of disqualification of Shiv Sena MLAs and ruled that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's party was the real Shiv Sena when two factions emerged in June 2022.

"Shinde faction was the real Shiv Sena political party when rival factions emerged on 21st June 2022," Narwekar said. "Shri Eknath Shinde was validly appointed as the leader of the Shiv Sena political party on 21 June, 2022," he added.

Narwekar also rejected disqualification petitions against MLAs of both sides, citing "no material evidence" produced by either sides for the same.

He also said that Bharat Gogawale was 'validly appointed' by the Shinde faction as the chief whip, thereby rejecting the appointment of Sunil Prabhu of the Uddhav Thackeray faction.

Here are more details of the verdict and the reactions following its announcement:

'Cannot Disqualify Shinde Faction or Thackeray Faction MLAs Because...'

Citing paragraph 21A under the 10th Schedule, Narwekar also said that the petitions to disqualify leaders of the Shinde faction over the reasons of going incommunicado cannot be accepted.

"The ground is a mere allegation and apart from the assertion that the respondents went incommunicado, the petitioners have not put forth any material evidence to substantiate it. For instance, the petitioner has not provided any material on record about who was sought to be contacted and by whhom and when such an attempt was made, etc.," he said.

Following the split, leaders and MLAs of the Shinde faction had first gone to Gujarat and later to Assam.

Narwekar further ruled that since Shinde's faction emerged as the real Shiv Sena after the split, the claim that they went incommunicado is "meaningless."

The Speaker further said that leaders of the Uddhav faction had met Eknath Shinde in Surat on Thackeray's instructions, further negating that the Shinde faction leaders were incommunicado.

He also rejected the Uddhav faction's argument that the MLAs should be disqualified for not attending the party's legislature meet on 21 June since his faction ceased to be the real Shiv Sena after the split.

Narwekar ruled that the Shinde faction did not act in cahoots with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2022.

"This ground is a mere allegation and apart from the mere statement that the respondents have acted in concerts with the BJP, the petitioners have not provided any material evidence to substantiate the same," Narwekar ruled.

On the petition by the Eknath Shinde faction to disqualify 14 MLAs of the Uddhav faction, Narwekar said that mere allegations that they had given up Shiv Sena's membership "without any material evidence" cannot be accepted.

'Uddhav Not Sole Authority': More Key Highlights of the Verdict

In his verdict, Narwekar further made the following key conclusions:

• "I find that the leadership structure of the Shiv Sena reflected in letter dated February 27, 2018, available on the website of the ECI, is a relevant leadership structure which has to be taken into account for the purpose of determining which faction is the real political party."

• "UBT faction has submitted that the will of the pakshapramukh is synonymous with the will of the political party. And thus, if there is a rift in the leadership structure, the decision of the pakshapramukh constitutes the will of the political party. This proposition is devoid of merit as I do not find substance to allow the same."

• Narwekar said that according to the Shiv Sena's constitution, it is not the party president but the 'rashtriya karyakarni' (national decision-making body) shall be the highest authority of the party and all its decisions about the party are final. The pakshapramukh is only the presiding member of this body, he said.

• Narwekar further ruled that Uddhav Thackeray, then president of an undivided Shiv Sena, is not the sole authority to oust any member of the party as per the party's constitution.

• "Also in my view, the 2018 leadership structure (submitted with ECI) was not as per the Shiv Sena Constitution. Shiv Sena party chief as per the party Constitution can not remove anyone from the party. So Uddhav Thackeray removed Eknath Shinde or any party leader from the party as per the party Constitution. So the removal of Eknath Shinde by Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 is not accepted based on the Shiv Sena Constitution," he said.

• He also said that the will of 'majority leaders', including that of Shinde's, does not reflect the party's will while making decisions or suspending leaders in case of conflict as per the constitution.

'Move to Finish Bal Thackeray's Shiv Sena': Thackeray Faction May Move SC

While leaders of Shinde's Shiv Sena welcomed and celebrated the verdict, Thackeray and parties of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance called the verdict "undemocratic".

"He (the Speaker) has made a thief the master of the House," Thackeray said while addressing the press.

"He has given a decision that exceeds the brief of the Supreme Court. The court had given a framework, but he distorted it into something else. He thinks he is above the Supreme Court. How can a tribunal be above the court? He should have made laws against party hopping stricter. Instead, he was busy clearing a path for himself," he added.

Sanjay Raut called the verdict a move to "finish Bal Thackeray's Shiv Sena". 

"This is BJP's conspiracy. It was their dream that one day we would finish Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena. But Shiv Sena won't finish with this one decision," he said.

Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar said that Thackeray will have to fight the case before the Supreme Court.

"After this decision, Uddhav will have to go to the SC. He is hopeful of getting justice in SC. Ambadas Danve said that we will go to the Supreme Court and challenge this decision. SC had said in Subhash Desai's case that party organisation is important," he said, as quoted by ANI.

Addressing the media, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole called the verdict 'unconstitutional'.

"Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar's judgment is unconstitutional and undemocratic. He accepted that the real Shiv Sena was 1999, he did not disqualify any MLA from both sides. We have faith in the Supreme Court," he said.

Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi told news agency ANI that the verdict is not surprising.

"I am not surprised at all. We had heard 'Wahi hota hai j manzoor-e-khuda' hota hai'...after 2014 a new tradition has begun, 'Wahi hota hai Jo manzoor-e-Narendra Modi aur Amit Shah hota hai'. That is what we see happening in Maharashtra...This is an unfortunate compromise of ethics. Something that was termed 'illegal' and 'unconstitutional' by the Supreme Court is being turned into 'legal'," she said.