Maharashtra Shiv Sena Crisis: Uddhav As 'Pramukh' Had No Power To Remove Eknath Shinde, Says Speaker

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar pronounced his verdict on the cross-petitions filed by both factions of Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other’s MLAs.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ( Image Source :PTI )

Shiv Sena crisis: Maharashtra Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, while announcing his verdict on disqualification matters on Wednesday, said that the Shiv Sena's Constitution of 2018 can’t be taken into account and thus Shiv Sena 'pramukh' has no power to dismiss any leader. 

“The last relevant constitution submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) before the rival groups emerged was of 1999. I hold that the constitution of the Shiv Sena party provided by ECI to the Speaker is the relevant constitution of Shiv Sena to decide which is the political party,” Narwekar said.

The Maharashtra Speaker today pronounced the long-awaited verdict on cross petitions filed by the Udhdhav Thackrey and CM Eknath Shinde factions against each other seeking disqualification on grounds of defection from the Assembly. Here are the relevant grounds considered by Narwekar while passing the judgement:

1. Relevant Constitution Of Shiv Sena

The Speaker while delivering his verdict said that he was of the view that the last relevant contituion of the Shiv Sena with the ECI was the 1999 one and not the 2018 one.

"The 2018 leadership structure was not in conformity with the constitution of the Shiv Sena (of 1999 which is relied upon). This leadership structure can not be taken as the yardstick to determine which faction is a real Shiv Sena political party."

He added, "Shiv Sena party chief as per the party Constitution cannot remove anyone from the party. So Uddhav Thackeray removed Eknath Shinde or any party leader from the party as per the party Constitution. So the removal of Eknath Shinde by Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 is not accepted based on the Shiv Sena Constitution..."

2. Leadership Structure

Keeping in mind the 1999 Constitution of Shiv Sena, the party chief or Pramukh had no power to disqualify a member. This means that the removal of Eknath Shinde by Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 is not in line with the Shiv Sena Constitution.

The Speaker also noted that evidence and records prima facie indicated that no election were held in 2013 and 2018. Citing his powers under the 10th schedule, the speaker said, "I have limited jurisdiction and cannot go beyond the record of the ECI as available on the website and hence I have not considered this aspect while determining the relevant leadership structure. Thus, given the above conclusions, I find that the leadership structure of Shiv Sena reflected in the letter dated 27th February 2018 available on the website of the ECI is the relevant leadership structure which has to be taken into account for the purpose of determining which faction is the real political party."

Narwekar further ruled that submission that the decision of leadership structure has to be construed as synonymous with the will of the party can be applied only if there was a dispute between the leader of the party and the members. In this case, there is a vertical rift and two factions have emerged, and thus, leaders of both factions Thackeray and Shinde can equally claim the will of the political party.

3. June 21 Shiv Sena Meeting and Chief Whip's Power

The Speaker refused to accept the UBT faction's argument that the respondents from the Shinde faction deliberately remained absent in the meeting dated June 21, 2022. He ruled that it would be incorrect to say that Shiv Sena chief whip, Sunil Prabhu, had the authority to call the legislature meeting. Citing this, the Speaker rejected the submission by the Thackrey group that the Shinde faction is liable to be disqualified from the party due to non-attendance.

Narwekar while pronouncing the verdict in Shinde's favour said that the Shinde faction was the real political party when rival faction emerged on June 21, 2022, as it had the overwhelming majority of 37 of 55 MLAs.

He further added that Sunil Prabhu ceased to be the whip of the party since the rival faction emerged. Eknath Shinde's appointment as the leader of Shivsena was valid. He also upheld Bharat Gogavale's appointment as Whip