Uddhav faction faces setback as Maha Speaker identifies Eknath Shinde group as real Shiv Sena

Mumbai: Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday held that the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena was the "real political party" when rival groups emerged on June 21, 2022.

Reading out his ruling on disqualification petitions filed by Shinde-led Sena and the rival faction led by Uddhav Thackeray against each other's MLAs, Narwekar also said that Sunil Prabhu of the Sena (UBT) ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022, and Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group became the authorised whip.

As the tenor of the ruling became clear, celebrations broke out among followers of Chief Minister Shinde's faction.

The speaker also held that the Shiv Sena pramukh' (chief) did not have the power to remove any leader from the party. He also did not accept the argument that the will of the party chief and the will of the party were synonymous.

The 1999 party constitution submitted to the Election Commision was the valid constitution for deciding the issues, and the Thackeray group's contention that the amended constitution of 2018 should be relied on was not acceptable, he added.

The 1999 constitution made the `Rashtriya Karyakarini' (national executive) the supreme body, he said.