New Delhi: The Uddhav Thackeray faction has challenged in the Supreme Court the Election Commission (EC)’s decision to recognise the breakaway Eknath Shinde faction as the “real” Shiv Sena.
According to LiveLaw, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before the Chief Justice of India – saying it should be listed along with the ongoing case which a constitution bench will begin hearing from Tuesday onwards. According to the report, CJI D.Y. Chandrachud did not allow Singhvi’s mentioning and asked him to mention it tomorrow.
On February 17, the EC recognised the Eknath Shinde faction as the official Shiv Sena, granting it the name and the “bow and arrow” symbol.
A constitution bench of the Supreme Court is currently considering the issues relating to the Shiv Sena rift.
While recognising the Shinde faction as the “official” Shiv Sena, the EC held that it passed the test of majority. The test of party constitution to determine the present dispute “would be undemocratic and catalytic in spreading such practises across parties”, while the test of aims and objects of the party constitution will “render an inconclusive answer for the purpose of adjudicating the present dispute”, the poll panel said.
The Thackeray faction has reacted furiously to the development, with Uddhav saying that the decision has “enraged” people. “They turned me out of my own house and the verdict went in the favour of thieves,” he said. Meanwhile, his loyalist Sanjay Raut claimed on Sunday that a transaction of Rs 2,000 crore took place to “purchase” the name and ‘bow and arrow’ symbol of Shiv Sena.
Speaking on Monday, Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the EC should be dissolved. According to the Indian Express, he said that election commissioners should be elected. “In our country, everyone has to get elected. But why is the election commissioner appointed by the government by their whims and fancies? Even justices are elected. There should be a system in place for appointing the election commissioner,” the former Maharashtra CM said.
He also said that while the EC has the right to give a decision on the party name and symbol, if it decides to pass an order on the Shiv Sena’s properties or funds, he will “sue the EC”.
Meanwhile, the Shinde faction has taken control of the party’s office in the Vidhan Bhavan. Party MLA Sanjay Shirsat said that all 56 legislators will have to follow the whip issued by the party in the forthcoming budget session and failing to do so would lead to the initiation of action for disqualification, according to Indian Express.
He said that the party is working towards the disqualification of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who claimed the EC was manipulated in favour of the Shinde camp. “Cases will also be filed against him for the disrespectful language used against CM Ekanth Shinde,” the MLA said, according to the newspaper.
The Maharashtra government helmed by Uddhav Thackeray was thrown into crisis in June 2022, when a group of 40 Shiv Sena MLAs – led by Eknath Shinde – rebelled against the party. They claimed that Thackeray’s decision to align with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party went against the Shiv Sena’s ideology – and therefore their faction was the ‘real’ Shiv Sena.
After the Supreme Court allowed the governor to convene the assembly for a trust vote, Thackeray resigned as chief minister. Shinde, with the support of BJP, took oath as chief minister on June 30, 2022. While the BJP has denied it had any hand in the development, saying it was an internal rift within the Sena, the Uddhav camp has accused the saffron party of manoeuvring the entire episode.