Uddhav Thackeray moves Supreme Court against Speaker’s ‘real Shiv Sena’ order

The Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray has moved the Supreme Court against the order of Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar which recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the ‘real Shiv Sena’.

On January 10, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled in favour of Eknath Shinde, saying that the Shiv Sena faction led by him was legitimate as he had the support of majority party MLAs.

The Speaker had also refused to disqualify any member from both the factions, led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray.

Reacting to the order, Uddhav Thackeray had said that the verdict was “an insult of the Supreme Court order” and “murder of democracy”. Thackeray had cleared that he would move the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict.

“I think he (Rahul Narvekar) did not understand his responsibilities. The Supreme Court provided a framework to be followed and even accepted our nomination of Chief Whip. I think the decision was beyond his understanding. Now, we will see if the tribunal is above the Supreme Court. The people of the state do not accept this decision,” Uddhav Thackeray said.

In June 2022, Eknath Shinde, along with over 40 Shiv Sena MLAs, rebelled against then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which included the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress as well.

Eknath Shinde then joined hands with the BJP and became the new Chief Minister, with Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

Cross-petitions were filed by the Shinde and Thackeray factions before the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker seeking action against each other under anti-defection laws.

The Supreme Court in May 2023 directed Speaker Rahul Narwekar to adjudicate on the pleas expeditiously.