Mumbai: The political temperature has risen in Maharashtra ahead of the crucial verdict by the assembly speaker on the cross-petitions by Shiv Sena factions seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs following a split in the party. The outcome will decide the way forward for the Eknath Shinde government and also the regional outfit's rival groups.
Speaker Rahul Narwekar is slated to deliver his much-awaited verdict on the disqualification pleas at 4 pm on Wednesday, more than 18 months after the Shiv Sena suffered a vertical split, a political development that resulted in a change of guard in the state.
On Tuesday, the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) upped the ante as its president Uddhav Thackeray said his party has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court objecting to a recent meeting between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is among the MLAs whose disqualification has been sought, and speaker Rahul Narwekar as both sides engaged in a verbal spat.
The speaker met Shinde at `Varsha', the chief minister's official residence in south Mumbai, on Sunday. Thackeray noted that the two had met in October last year too.
"If the judge (Narwekar) is going to meet the accused, what should we expect from that judge," Thackeray asked, speaking to the media at his residence `Matoshree' here. The affidavit before the SC was filed on Monday, the former CM said.
Thackeray's ally and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar also said that when someone who is hearing a case meets the person against whom the case is being heard, it "leaves room for doubt". Hitting back, Narwekar said Thackeray should know for what purposes a speaker could meet a chief minister.
Meanwhile, Narwekar retorted stating, "If he still levels such allegations, then his motive is very clear. There is no rule that a speaker, while hearing disqualification pleas, cannot do any other work."
Earlier on Tuesday late night, a meeting was held between Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadwanis and Ajit Pawar, newly elected Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla, Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar at the Chief Minister's Varsha residence.
A Cabinet meeting will be held on Tuesday. After this meeting, the Chief Minister will go on a pre-planned visit to Hingoli in the afternoon. After today's result, the reaction from both factions of Shiv Sena will also be very important.
What happens next?
But what happens after the verdict? If today's result goes against Shinde, will the government collapse? Will Eknath Shinde have to resign as Chief Minister if 16 MLAs from his group are disqualified? If the decision goes against Shinde, will the party and symbol awarded to him by the Election Commission be taken away from him again? Many such questions are going to depend on today's result. That's why the whole country is paying attention to this result.
On the other hand, if the verdict is against Uddhav Thackeray's group, his MLAs will be disqualified. Also, the Election Commission will stamp the party and symbol given to the Shinde group. After the verdict against Uddhav Thackeray, he will go to the Supreme Court again. After that, it is likely to take a long time for the verdict of the Supreme Court. In such a situation, this is going to be a big blow to Uddhav Thackeray and his group.
Narwekar's ruling will decide whether "democracy exists in the country or not" or whether the two (speaker and chief minister) will "murder" democracy, said the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.
Looking back
The Supreme Court last month extended the deadline to January 10 for Narwekar to decide on the cross-petitions filed by rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs.
Thackeray said since the SC directed Narwekar in May last year to take a decision on the disqualification pleas, the speaker has met the chief minister twice. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed confidence about the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar group) government remaining stable going forward.
The senior BJP leader stressed that the alliance government is "legal" and hoped the speaker's ruling will give justice to them.
In June 2022, Shinde and several MLAs rebelled against the then-chief minister Thackeray, leading to a split in the Shiv Sena and fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which also comprised the NCP and the Congress.
Cross-petitions were filed by the Shinde and Thackeray factions before the speaker seeking action against each other under anti-defection laws. The apex court in May last year directed Narwekar to adjudicate on the pleas expeditiously.
The Election Commission had given the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde-led faction, while the one headed by Thackeray was called the Shiv Sena (UBT) with a flaming torch as its symbol.
In July last year, the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP also joined the Shinde-led government. Assembly polls in Maharashtra are due in the second half of 2024.
The sword of disqualification is on these 16 MLAs of the Shinde group: Eknath Shinde, Chimanrao Patil, Abdul Sattar, Tanaji Sawant, Yamini Jadhav, Sandipan Bhumre, Bharat Gogave, Sanjay Shirsath, Lata Sonavane, Prakash Surve, Balaji Kinikar, Balaji Kalyankar, Anil Babar, Sanjay Raimulkar, Ramesh Bornare, Mahesh Shinde. With PTI inputs
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