Eknath Shinde To Continue As Maharashtra CM As Speaker Narwekar Rejects Uddhav Faction's MLA Disqualification Petitions

Maharashtra Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday (10 January) observed that the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde can be considered as the real party and rejected disqualification petition of Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) faction.

Shiv Sena's UBT faction had submitted that decision of paksha pramukh is synonymous with the will of the party but the speaker didn't accept this on the basis of 1999 party constitution.

Saying that Shiv Sena's constitution needs to be taken into account for the leadership structure, Narwekar highlighted that the 1999 constitution is valid since it is in the Election Commission of India's (ECI) record, not the 2018 amended one.

Citing the party constitution, Narwekar asserted that the national executive committee of Shiv Sena is the highest decision-making authority. However, the party's leadership structure in 2018 was not in line with the 1999 constitution.

He further said that Uddhav Thackeray's order to remove Eknath Shinde as the party leader cannot be accepted because Thackeray was not vested with such power.

Shinde and Thackeray can be considered equal as a decision-making authority and when they are opposing each other, the number of leaders on each side has to be considered, the speaker noted.

This means that the 16 MLAs of Shinde faction will not be disqualified and Shinde will continue to serve as the CM of Maharashtra. Also, Bharat Gogavale was considered as the whip of the party.

Earlier in the day: "We Have Majority": Eknath Shinde Asserts Ahead Of Maharashtra Speaker's Verdict On Disqualification Of Shiv Sena MLAs