Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar in his verdict on the cross-petitione filed by both factions of Shiv-Sena seeking disqualifications of the MLAs from both side said that the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was the “real Shiv Sena”.
In his verdict, Mr Narwekar said the constitution of Shiv Sena in 1999 has to be taken in account as the newly constituted Shiv Sena in 2018 was not before the Election Commission. The 1999 constitution was the last relevant constitution before the ECI, he said.
“I will have to decide the relevant constitution to be taken into account to the leadership structure that existed before the dispute. The 2018 amended constitution of Shiv Sena cannot be considered as valid as it’s not in the records of the Election Commission of India. As per Supreme Court orders, I can not delve into any other factor on which the constitution is valid. As per records, I am relying on the 1999 constitution of Shiv Sena as the valid constitution,” the Speaker said further.
Total 34 petitions were filed by both the factions against 54 MLAs.
However, Mr Narwekar also said that the Shiv Sena pramukh had no autonomy to disqualify any leader.
Mr Narwekar further said, “the 2018 leadership structure (submitted with ECI) was not as per the Shiv Sena Constitution. Shiv Sena party chief as per the party Constitution cannot remove anyone from the party. So, the removal of Eknath Shinde by Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 is not accepted based on the Shiv Sena Constitution”.
