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Once again there has been a big earthquake in the politics of Maharashtra. The dispute over 6 Lok Sabha MPs of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) joining the original Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde has now reached the country’s top court. On Tuesday, July 21, the Uddhav faction challenged the merger decision given by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in the Supreme Court and demanded an urgent hearing of the matter. While hearing the petition, the Chief Justice (CJI) has assured to list the case soon.
Speaker’s decision issued late night challenged in Supreme Court
Senior advocate Devdutt Kamat, appearing for Shiv Sena (UBT) in the Supreme Court, argued that this decision, issued late at night just before the commencement of the Parliament session, has completely stalled the parliamentary work of the party. Kamat argued before the court that the dispute between the two factions over the rights and name of the party was already pending in the apex court. He said that no elected MP can automatically merge with a rival party without the written consent of his parent party, hence this decision directly affects the current Parliament session.
These 6 MPs joined Shinde faction: Know the changed equation of seats in Parliament
In a major blow to the Uddhav Thackeray faction, 6 of its prominent MPs have joined the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena. The MPs who merged include Sanjay Deshmukh from Yavatmal, Sanjay Jadhav from Parbhani, Sanjay Dina Patil from Mumbai North East, Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar from Hingoli, Omprakash Rajenimbalkar from Dharashiv and Bhausaheb Wakchore from Shirdi. After the Lok Sabha Speaker gave official approval to this merger, the number of Shinde-led Shiv Sena MPs in the lower house has increased from 7 to 13, while Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) is now left with only 3 MPs.
The legal dispute over who is the rightful owner of the party has been going on since 2022.
It is noteworthy that after the historic rebellion led by Eknath Shinde in June 2022, Uddhav Thackeray had to resign from the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra. After this, on 17 February 2023, the Election Commission of India (ECI) considered the Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and allotted the party’s name and original election symbol ‘bow and arrow’. Uddhav Thackeray group had approached the Supreme Court against this decision of the Election Commission, the final decision on which is still pending. Now, after 6 MPs changed sides, a new chapter of this legal battle has started.