In a significant development, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar announced a pivotal ruling on Wednesday, declaring Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction as the "real" Shiv Sena following the vertical split in the party on June 21, 2022.
This ruling by the Speaker renders the prospect of disqualification for all 16 MLAs, including Shinde, ineffective, dismissing the claims of the Shiv Sena-UBT faction.
The Speaker further clarified that the then Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu no longer represented the party's will to retain the position, as the newly elected Chief Whip Bharat Gogawale was considered validly elected after the emergence of the rival faction.
This verdict comes as a major relief for Chief Minister Shinde while dealing a significant blow to the Shiv Sena-UBT faction, led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who had contested the legitimacy of the breakaway group.
The Speaker's decision also rejected various other claims and contentions put forth by the Shiv Sena-UBT in their plea against the Shinde faction. The ruling prompted widespread celebrations among the ruling Shiv Sena supporters in Mumbai and other parts of the state.
(With Agency Inputs)
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