Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision holding that the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was the real Shiv Sena was a murder of democracy, and his party will move the Supreme Court against it.
Speaking at a press conference, Thackeray said the apex court had given clear guidelines, but those were ignored by the Speaker while giving his ruling on disqualification petitions filed by the rival Sena factions. The original case was about disqualification under the anti-defection law, but not one lawmaker from either side was disqualified, he said.
“The foundation on which the order stands is wrong. This is a murder of democracy and an insult to the Supreme Court,” he said, adding that neither the apex court nor the people will accept this decision. His party will approach the SC against the ruling, and will also examine if a contempt petition can be filed against the Speaker, Thackeray said. He would request the apex court to give its decision on the case before the elections, he added. The court had accepted the authority of the whip of the Thackeray faction (Sunil Prabhu) and its group leader (Ajay Chowdhary), he said.
Narwekar, in his ruling, said Prabhu ceased to be the authorised whip when the split in the party became apparent on June 21, 2022. “Shiv Sena will never be finished and the people of Maharashtra will not accept the Sena of these traitors,” Thackeray, who stepped down as chief minister after Shinde’s rebellion in June 2022, said.