On Monday, the Supreme Court received a petition from the Shiv Sena faction led by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray regarding Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s declaration of the Eknath Shinde-led party as the “real Shiv Sena.”

The speaker of Maharashtra also turned down a request from the Uddhav faction to disqualify sixteen MPs who supported Shinde.

Narwekar declared on January 10 that the Shinde faction, which emerged from the 2022 split of the Bal Thackeray-founded Shiv Sena, was the genuine group. The speaker also decided that, under the Shiv Sena constitution, Thackeray lacked the authority to depose Shinde, the party’s chief minister at the moment, from his position as leader of the legislature.

Additionally, the speaker said that no party leadership could utilize the anti-defection provisions found in the 10th Schedule of the Constitution to suppress dissension or disorder inside the party.

The speaker mentioned that when the party split in June 2022, 37 of the 54 Sena MLAs supported the Eknath Shinde group.

The Election Commission approved the ‘Shiv Sena’ moniker and ‘bow and arrow’ symbol to the Shinde-led faction in early 2023.

The speaker did not grasp the mandate, according to Thackeray, who called it an insult to the Supreme Court. “I believe the Assembly Speaker was not aware of the request or the mandate. It was just a straightforward disqualification. The Speaker of the Sena (UBT), who was compelled to resign as chief minister in 2022 when Shinde rebelled with the support of the BJP, stated, “The Supreme Court established a framework, but the Speaker thought he was above the Supreme Court and came up with his court and verdict.”

SOURCE: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/uddhav-thackeray-moves-sc-over-maharashtra-speakers-real-sena-order-101705314740989.html