Mumbai:

The Sena versus Sena battle heated up on the occasion of the Shiv Sena foundation day as Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde held parallel programmes in two parts of Mumbai. And from Sion’s Shanmukhanand Hall, Uddhav Thackeray, powered by the people’s support, issued an open challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Modi-ji I invite you to start campaign for assembly election in Maharashtra… it will be you versus me,” he said, pointing to the election due by year-end.

“My message to the BJP — try winning an election without using my original symbol. I am proud that we did not use anyone else’s picture. We will never use either, especially of PM Modi. I challenge PM Modi to start preparations today – keeping this fake Shiv Sena away,” he added.

Mr Thackeray also rubbished speculation about the two Sena factions joining hands and remaining in the NDA fold. He would never go with those who tried to “finish off” his party, Mr Thackeray said.

Though the rebel faction led by Eknath Shinde was awarded the name and election symbol of the undivided Shiv Sena by the Election Commission, the voters had decisively settled the legacy issue. And they did not agree with the poll body.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena won nine seats and the Shinde faction seven.

The other party in the same boat,  the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, won eight seats. The faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar — which also got the name and party symbol from the Election Commission — only one.

Ally Congress won 13 seats.

The people’s disapproval of the political upheaval in the state extended to the BJP, which, Mr Shinde once let slip, had engineered the Sena split. The party’s score was cut down to nine seats, from 23 in 2019 .

But Chief Minister Eknath Shinde remained determined to push the point he based his rebellion on — that Mr Thackeray had strayed from the ideology set down by Sena founder and his father Balasaheb Thackeray.

“Where has your Hindutva gone? You have no right to seek votes in Balasaheb Thackeray’s name,” he said at a massive rally in Worli’s NSCI dome.  “Even a small kid will tell you that the Shiv Sena UBT won because of the Congress’ vote bank. Those who left Bal Thackeray’s thoughts for position, lost in the election. Bal Thackeray always talked against the Congress,” he added.

But Mr Thackeray had already covered the point.

“We got votes of all patriots, people of all religions. They said we left Hindutva, because we went with the Congress. I did not leave Hindutva. If everyone voted for us to save the country and the constitution, then people are with us. It shows the BJP is the one that left Hindutva,” Mr Thackeray said.

Nagpur:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said he rebelled because Uddhav Thackeray abandoned the ideology of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

Addressing a meeting of his party workers in Ramtek in Nagpur, Mr Shinde said he did not want to become chief minister but had to rebel after seeing Bal Thackeray’s ideology being compromised. Mr Shinde broke away from the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit in June 2022 and formed government with the backing of the BJP.

“Balasaheb Thackeray used to consider us (party functionaries) as friends but he thinks of us as house-helps,” the Chief Minister said in another jibe at the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief.

He also said a party grows when leaders reach out to the grassroot worker rather than sitting at home.

Asking people to vote for the ruling alliance in order to make Narendra Modi prime minister for the third time, Mr Shinde said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi does not have any agenda or intention for development.

“The seat sharing details between parties in the ruling alliance will be completed in two to three days. The Mahayuti will win all seats in Vidarbha,” he later told reporters at the airport.

Responding to a statement by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray that the CM gave away four to five seats to allies to ensure his son gets renominated from Kalyan, Mr Shinde said those coming up with such criticism must look at the tussles in the MVA.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Maharashtra Speaker’s ruling on the Sena vs Sena dispute – in which the faction led by Eknath Shinde was declared the “real Sena” based on its “discernible legislative majority” – and asked if the conclusion was contrary to its instructions.

A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud made the oral observation as it heard pleas from the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction (or what was the united Shiv Sena) challenging Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision to not disqualify the MLAs – including Mr Shinde – who had switched to the BJP.

The court ordered the Speaker’s office to submit all original records pertaining to disqualification pleas filed by Mr Thackeray’s camp, and asked Mr Shinde’s camp to file a reply by April 1.

The summoning of records was in response to forgery allegations by the Shinde faction.

The next hearing will be in the second week of the same month, the court said, adding, it will also hear then objections by the Shinde side – that this matter is worthy of being heard by the top court.

The court also said it was keeping open the issue of maintainability of the petition.

READ | Thackeray Approaches Court Over Speaker’s “Real Shiv Sena” Decision

On January 10, Rahul Narwekar ruled in favour of the Shinde faction, calling it the “real Shiv Sena” and holding, therefore, that disqualification of its MLAs could not be sought by the Thackeray faction.

READ | Eknath Shinde Faction Is “Real Sena”, Says Speaker

He said he was relying on the legislative strength of the Shinde camp; his final ruling noted it had a strength of 37 of 55 seats (won by the then united Sena in the 2019 Assembly election).

However, in May last year, the Supreme Court had said the Speaker should not base his decision on “a blind appreciation of which group possess a majority in the Legislative Assembly”. The Constitution Bench of the court said a decision on the “real Sena” was more than numbers.

An incensed Mr Thackeray had called Mr Narwekar’s decision an “insult to the Supreme Court and (a) murder of democracy”. The former Chief Minister said the Speaker made a “thief” – a jab at to Eknath Shinde – “master of the House”, and had exceeded the brief given to him by the court.

READ | “Why Were We Not Disqualified,” Thackeray Questions Speaker

“The court had given a framework but he distorted it into something else… he thinks he is above the Supreme Court. He should have made laws against party-hopping stricter but was busy clearing a path for himself,” he said, pointing out also Mr Narwekar had “changed parties many times”.

After splitting in June 2022, the factions served a clutch of disqualification notices against each other. The Thackeray faction sought the removal of as many as 40 Shinde camp MLAs, which, in turn, wanted 14 of its rivals disqualified. The Speaker, though, had dismissed all these petitions.

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Mumbai (Maharashtra):

After the Supreme Court order, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar said that a copy of the order had not yet been received, adding that the decision would be taken in a reasonable time.

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed disapproval over the delay by the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in deciding the disqualification petitions against 56 MLAs including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and asked him to set a timeline for the hearing them within a week.

“The copy of the order has not yet been received. The hearing in the disqualification petitions will take its own course. The decision will be taken in a reasonable time,” Rahul Narvekar said.

He further said, “According to my information, the Supreme Court has recognised that the Speaker is a Constitutional position, and the court cannot intervene in his functioning.”

The court also observed that nothing has happened in the matter except for the issuance of notice. The Court asked the Speaker to keep the matter within a week for passing procedural directions.

“In the hearing, Supreme Court said that as per its judgement released on May 11 wherein it was decided that Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker will take a decision regarding disqualification, no proceedings held so far even after four months. The Court kept waiting for it…Without taking much time, the disqualification proceedings should begin,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) Leader Anil Desai on Supreme Court’s disapproval of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker’s delay in decision on disqualification petitions.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it had been asking the Speaker, Rahul Narwekar, to decide on the matter for four months.

The Speaker cannot delay the proceedings under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution indefinitely and there has to be a sense of respect to the directions passed by the top court,” the court said.

“Order of this court requires the Speaker to decide proceedings within a reasonable period of time. We expect deference and dignity to the directions issued exercised using Constitutional power. We now direct procedural directions shall be issued by the Speaker within a week setting out a timeline to complete the proceedings. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta shall inform the court about what is the timeline being set for disposing of the proceedings,” the bench said.

During the hearing, CJI said that the Speaker has to dispose of the disqualification petitions pending before him. “You can’t say that I will hear it in due course. You have to keep giving dates. It appears nothing has happened (since May),” the bench observed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker, said that he was being ridiculed despite being a Constitutional functionary.

The top court noted that a total of 34 petitions filed by both groups of Shiv Sena against each other seeking the disqualification of 56 MLAs are pending before the Speaker.

The court was hearing a plea filed in July by Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena seeking direction to the Speaker to take an expeditious decision on the disqualification petitions pending against rebel Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde. The plea was filed by MLA Sunil Prabhu of Uddhav Thackeray’s group of Shiv Sena.

Speaker in brazen disregard to his constitutional duties as a neutral arbiter, has sought to delay the adjudications of the disqualification petitions, thereby, permitting the illegal continuance of Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister, against whom the disqualification petitions are pending for almost a year, the plea has said.

Speaker’s conduct in choosing to deliberately delay the adjudication of the disqualification petitions filed by the Uddhav Thackeray group against the delinquent members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, it has added.

The disqualification pleas have been pending since the Maharashtra political crises started. The plea sought direction for the Speaker to decide disqualification petitions within a time-bound manner.

Sunil Prabhu in his plea contended that in the present case, the delinquent MLAs against whom disqualification petitions are pending have committed “brazenly unconstitutional acts” which per se invite disqualification under Paras 2(1)(a), 2(1)(b), and 2(2) of the Tenth Schedule.

The Speaker’s inaction in deciding the disqualification proceedings is an “act of grave constitutional impropriety” as his inaction is allowing MLAs who are liable to be disqualified to continue in the assembly and to hold responsible positions in the government of Maharashtra including that of the Chief Minister, the plea added.

“It is settled law that the Speaker while performing its functions under Para 6 of the Tenth Schedule, acts as a judicial tribunal, and is required to act in a fair and unbiased manner. The constitutional requirement of fairness enjoins upon the Speaker the obligation to decide the question of disqualification in an expeditious manner. Any unreasonable delay on the part of the Speaker in deciding the petitions for disqualification contributes to and perpetuates the constitutional sin of defection committed by the delinquent members,” the petition stated.

Prabhu said though the Supreme Court in its May 11 judgment asked the Speaker to decide pending disqualification petitions within a reasonable period, the Speaker has taken no steps in that regard. He said he has already submitted three representations on this score to the Speaker, but to no avail.

The disqualification petitions against the rebel MLAs were filed by Sunil Prabhu, the Shiv Sena party Whip appointed by Uddhav Thackeray, on June 23, 2022 after the MLAs revolted against Thackeray. The notices of disqualification were issued by Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal in the absence of the Speaker.

On May 11, a five-judge Constitution bench had held that it cannot disqualify the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minster because the latter had chosen to resign instead of facing a test of strength in the Assembly.

In August last year, the top court’s three-judge bench had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the issues involved in the petition filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis.

On June 29, 2022, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. It had refused to stay the Maharashtra Governor’s direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30.

After the court’s order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn in as the Chief Minister.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)