Mumbai: Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar Tuesday said that the Election Commission’s decision recognising Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is “not retrospective” and that he will determine which faction represented the political party in July 2022 — the one led by Eknath Shinde or the one with Uddhav Thackeray.
This comes after the Supreme Court, last week, disposed off a petition seeking the disqualification of 16 MLAs from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena by directing the Speaker to take a call on the matter.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai Tuesday, Narwekar said that the EC’s decision from February 2023 recognising the Shinde-led party as the real Shiv Sena cannot be applied retrospectively, and his decision on who was the real Shiv Sena as of July 2022 will be independent of the EC’s.
“What is the main issue? We have to give priority to the political party. What was the wish of the political party? Who will be the whip, who will be the leader? We have to think about that and give a response. So in July 2022, which faction was representing the party? We need to start from there,” Narwekar added.
The top court had also called the Speaker’s decision from July 2022 to recognise Shinde faction’s Bharat Gogawale as the Shiv Sena’s chief whip based on the legislative strength of the faction as “illegal.”
The SC said the whip is that of the political party and not the legislative party and that the Speaker should have first ascertained which faction of the Sena represents the political party. Both Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and former CM Uddhav Thackeray have hailed the verdict, interpreting it as being in their favour.
“Once we identify which faction represents the political party, the next step will be to decide whose whip will apply. On the basis of that, we will take a call on the disqualification pleas,” said Narwekar, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA.
In June 2022, Shinde led a rebellion of a majority of Shiv Sena MLAs causing the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to fall. The MVA includes the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress. Shinde then joined hands with the BJP to form a government in Maharashtra with himself as CM. The Thackeray-led party filed a disqualification petition against the first 16 MLAs who rebelled, including Shinde.
Speaker Narwekar had administered a floor test of the Shinde-led government in July 2022 and recognised the Shinde faction’s Bharat Gogawale as the chief whip of the Shiv Sena based on the party’s legislative strength.
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The real Shiv Sena in July 2022
The EC had, in February this year, recognised Shinde’s party as the Shiv Sena with the original bow and arrow symbol relying solely on one aspect — the number of MLAs and MPs in the faction.
The EC considered other aspects such as the organisational strength of the two factions and which faction truly supports the party’s stated ideology and its constitution, but decided that neither factor could be taken into account, slamming the Shiv Sena’s constitution as “undemocratic”.
While Narwekar said his decision will be independent of the EC’s, speaking at the press conference, he indicated that he will be applying the same tests as the EC did.
“We will get a copy of the party’s constitution that is with the EC. We will determine if elections were happening as per what is given in the constitution, whether the party was functioning as per the constitution, whether the constitution itself is as per the rules of the EC…,” Narwekar said.
He added that the SC has said the decision on the real Shiv Sena should be based on the party’s constitution, majority of the organisational structure and legislative strength.
He said 54 MLAs have been made a party to the case and there are more than five petitions related to it before him.
“We will have to follow a process, give them notices, apply the principle of natural justice, hold hearings, take their versions into consideration and then take a decision,” Narwekar said.
‘Gogawale can be whip again’
Narwekar clarified the SC’s order declaring Gogawale’s appointment as a whip “illegal” does not automatically mean that the whip of the other Thackeray faction was valid.
“It is important to clear a misconception. The court called Bharat Gogawale’s appointment as chief whip illegal because it was made without ascertaining whether it was made by the political party. But if we conduct a full inquiry and conclude that it was the political party that had picked Bharat Gogawale then there is no restriction on reinstating him.”
Narwekar refused to give exact timelines on by when he will take a decision on the disqualification petition.
He said, “We will decide as early as possible without hurrying.”
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)