Mumbai:

Former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Friday joined the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai. The former Mumbai MP’s political journey, thus, came a full circle as he had left the undivided Shiv Sena, then led by Bal Thackeray, 19 years ago.

Chief Minister Shinde welcomed Nirupam — whom Congress had expelled for “anti-party activities” last month — into the Sena at a function. Nirupam will work as Shiv Sena deputy leader and spokesperson, Shinde announced.

Notably, the Shiv Sena has several deputy leaders.

Mr Nirupam, 59, began his political career as editor of ‘Dophar Ka Saamana’, the Hindi mouthpiece of the Shiv Sena, in the 1990s, and became the party’s North Indian face.

He joined Congress in 2005 and was appointed general secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. He won the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat in the 2009 elections, defeating BJP veteran Ram Naik. He held various positions in the Grand Old Party and also headed the city unit before falling out with the state Congress leadership.

After the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, Mr Nirupam opposed the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising Congress, NCP and the undivided Shiv Sena headed by Uddhav Thackeray.

Congress expelled him last month for six years for “indiscipline and anti-party statements” days after he gave a “one-week ultimatum” to the party over the Mumbai North-West seat which he was eyeing. As part of the seat-sharing agreement of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the seat is being contested by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

Speaking after Mr Nirupam’s entry into the Shiv Sena, Chief Minister Shinde noted that Bal Thackeray had sent him to the Rajya Sabha twice, and his work at the national level had enhanced the Sena’s reputation.

“Today, he has returned home,” Mr Shinde said, adding that Nirupam’s entry will benefit the candidates of the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP alliance in the Mumbai-Thane region, and he will also work to rally the North Indian population behind the party. 

(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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