The Supreme Court on Monday asked Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to defer the disqualification proceedings initiated against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 other ‘rebel’ Shiv Sena MLAs for defection.
Mr. Shinde proved his strength in the Maharashtra assembly last week, after winning the trust vote
MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray camp were also threatened with disqualification.
Mr. Shinde’s rebellion last month led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray and divided the Sena between the legacy Thackeray faction and the ‘rebel Sena’ which is being referred to as the ‘Shinde Sena.’
The tussle has now turned bitter, with the two factions launching attacks over the political turmoil and the identity of the party itseld, including its symbols.
‘Nobody could take away the party’s bow and arrow symbol’ thundered Uddhav Thackeray, as he called for fresh elections in the state.
Shinde also did not back down in the verbal tussle, saying ‘Some people think they are born to rule. I am not the one to have born with a golden spoon. They should have felt proud that a common man has assumed the chair. They are filing petitions in the night and early morning. But even the court knows. We have the majority numbers to rule. We havent done anything illegal.’
‘The original Shiv Sena political party remains under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray… who was elected president of the Shiv Sena way back on 23.01.2018 when the organisational elections of the were conducted and the same was communicated to the Election Commission on 27.02.2018,’ the Thackeray camp has told the Supreme Court.
Mr. Thackeray had also called a meeting of party MPs earlier today, 13 of 19 parliamentarians attended. Six MPs, including Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant were not in attendance.