Uddhav Thackeray

Both factions of the Sena led by Thackeray and Shinde will hold their Vijaya Dashami rallies at Shivaji Park and Bandra Kurla Complex grounds, respectively, under the common party name and an embittered ambience after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was toppled in June.

"In a democracy, the majority counts and we have that majority in the assembly, a majority of the MPs are supporting us. All decisions taken in the country are based on the Constitution, laws and procedures. We have not done anything to flout any laws and we have formed this government also on the basis of the laws. We were expecting this decision," Eknath Shinde said.

A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, said there will be no stay on proceedings before the EC to decide intra-party dispute in Shiv Sena between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde faction, on which one is the original party and also on getting the party symbol.

Clearly taken aback by the political-economic bombshell with long-term ramifications, CM Eknath Shinde spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Tuesday where the latter reportedly assured him of "giving even bigger projects to Maharashtra" in the future.

The Shiv Sena President and ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is facing competition from the rebel faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and even the Raj Thacekray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is toying with the idea of a rally at the Shivaji Park.

The bench will decide about the symbol related to the Election Commission proceeding...," said the bench. It also asked the Election Commission not to take a final call on Eknath Shinde's faction claim as the official Shiv Sena party till Thursday (August 25). Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Uddhav Thackeray faction, asked the top court to restrain the Election Commission from deciding Shinde's claim.

Thackeray replaces his wife Rashmi who was named as the Editor around 32 months ago when he took over as Maharashtra Chief Minister. The development came five days after the Enforcement Directorate arrested Sena MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut in an alleged money-laundering case. Raut, who has been the Executive Editor of 'Saamana' continues in the same post, as per the latest printline of Friday's edition.

Thackeray, accompanied by Lok Sabha MP Arvind Sawant and other senior party leaders met Raut's aged mother, wife Varsha, daughter and other family members at their home in 'Maitri' bungalow in Bhandup. Raut's mother became emotional and held onto Thackeray, expressing silent concerns for her son who was arrested by the ED early this morning in an alleged money-laundering case arising out of the Patra Chawl, Goregaon, land scam.

The development comes 10 days after the MPs walked over en masse to the Shinde group, named Rahul Shewale as their parliamentary party leader and even submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. "I have sought disqualification of the 12 Shiv Sena rebel MPs," Vinayak Raut, the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party Leader, told media persons after meeting the Speaker this afternoon in New Delhi.

"A conspiracy to eliminate all the opposition and regional parties in the country is going on in full swing... The ruling party (BJP) is scared of the opposition. It indicates their inefficiency," said Thackeray, in the concluding part of a marathon "birthday interview" to Sanjay Raut, Executive Editor of the Sena mouthpieces "Saamana" and "Dopahar Ka Saamana" newspapers.