With the Supreme Court's decision on the Shiv Sena power struggle, the political cauldron in Maharashtra has once again come to the boil.
A five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court on Wednesday, 11 May, pronounced its verdict on the political crisis that led to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led state government.
For context, Eknath Shinde, the incumbent Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with 39 MLAs, rebelled against the Shiv Sena leadership, and engineered a split within the party which led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. After winning a floor test, Shinde joined forces with the BJP and took over as the CM.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena then sought the disqualification of 16 of these rebel MLAs, who were the first ones to go incommunicado.
The Supreme Court, in its judgment on Thursday, said that the speaker must decide on the disqualification of the 16 MLAs within a 'reasonable' period.
"There are no extraordinary circumstances in the instant case that warrant the exercise of jurisdiction by this Court to adjudicate disqualification petitions. The Speaker must decide disqualification petitions within a reasonable period," the court said.
The ‘Group of 16’
Of the 16 legislators facing disqualification, one is Chief Minister Shinde himself who is a four-term legislator from Thane's Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency. Shinde led the rebellion against Thackeray and currently holds key ministerial portfolios including urban development, transport, and environment in the state government. The other 15 rebel MLAs are as follows:
Abdul Sattar Abdul Nabi
Abdul Sattar Abdul Nabi is a three-term legislator from Sillod, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He currently serves as the Cabinet minister for agriculture in Maharashtra. In 2019, he defected from Congress to join Shiv Sena.
Sanjay Shirsat
Shirsat was elected as a legislator from the Sambhajinagar West constituency three times, in 2009, 2014, and 2019, and has been a Shiv Sena member throughout his political career.
Sandipan Bhumre
A five-term legislator from Paithan in Marathwada, Sandipan Bhumre is currently a Cabinet minister for the employment guarantee and horticulture. He is also the chairman of the Renuka Devi-Sharad Shahakari sugar factory in Aurangabad.
Tanaji Sawant
Sawant is a first-time legislator from the Dharashiv constituency and cabinet minister for public health and family welfare who defected from the NCP to join the Shiv Sena. He has served three Vidhan Parishad terms.
Chimanrao Patil
Patil is a two-time legislator from Erandol in Jalgaon, and has been associated with the Shiv Sena since the beginning of his political career.
Bharat Gogawale
A three-time legislator from Mahad, Bharat Gogawale is an influential leader in the Konkan region.
Lata Sonawane
Sonawane is a first-time legislator from the Chopda Assembly constituency in Jalgaon district.
Yamini Jadhav
Yamini Jadhav is a first-time legislator from Byculla in Mumbai. Jadhav served as a corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 2012.
Balaji Kinikar
Kinikar is a three-term legislator from Ambernath in Thane.
Prakash Surve
Surve is a two-term legislator from Mumbai's Magathane. In July 2022, a purported video of Aaditya Thackeray confronting Surve for joining the Shinde camp went viral on social media. “I thought you were coming back to us. This was not expected of you,” Aaditya Thackeray was heard saying in the said video.
Anil Babar
A four-term legislator from Khanapur, Babar has switched parties several times in the past – from the Congress to NCP to Shiv Sena.
Mahesh Shinde
A politician from Satara district, Mahesh Shinde was elected as an MLA for the first time in 2019 from the Koregaon Assembly constituency.
Sanjay Raimulkar
Sanjay Raimulkar is a three-time legislator from the Buldhana Assembly constituency.
Ramesh Bornare
Ramesh Bornare is a first-time legislator from Vaijapur.
Balaji Kalyankar
Balaji Kalyankar is a first-time legislator from Nanded North.
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Who Is Rahul Narwekar?
The incumbent speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly is Rahul Narwekar – a first-time BJP legislator from Mumbai's Colaba Assembly constituency.
He was elected as Maharashtra Assembly speaker on 3 July 2022, with 164 votes, defeating Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena and MVA candidate Rajan Salvi, who got 107 votes. The 46-year-old legislator is the second-youngest person in the country to be elected speaker of any state; the youngest being Shivraj Patil, aged 42.
Responding to the court’s verdict, Narwekar, who will be in London till 15 May, said:
"The SC has said that the Speaker will decide on the disqualification of 16 MLAs. There was no clarity on Schedule 10 that whether a political party or legislature party can decide on the whip. Now that Hon'ble SC has given a clear interpretation, we will accordingly decide. Earlier there was no clarity.”
Narwekar has been associated with all three of Maharashtra's major political parties, including Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party, and the BJP.
He began his political career with Shiv Sena and progressed through the ranks to become a spokesperson for the Yuva Sena, the party’s youth wing led by Uddhav Thackeray's son Aaditya Thackeray.
He quit Shiv Sena ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and joined the NCP. He stood as an NCP candidate from the Maval constituency and lost to Shiv Sena candidate Shrirang Appa Barne. He joined the BJP prior to the 2019 Assembly elections, in which he defeated Congress candidate Ashok Jagtap.
The politician is a lawyer by profession and the son-in-law of NCP leader and former Maharashtra Legislative Council chairman Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar.
Narwekar was appointed as the speaker a year after Nana Patole resigned to become Maharashtra Congress president, leaving the position vacant.
It is pertinent to note that Rahul Narwekar was elected speaker a day before the Eknath Shinde government faced and subsequently won the floor test in the 288-member Assembly.
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