In a major disappointment for Maharashtra's former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on January 10 held incumbent CM Eknath Shinde's faction as the real Shiv Sena.
Announcing the ruling, Narwekar said that Thackeray did not have the support of majority and had no power to remove Shinde.
The Speaker rejected Uddhav's plea to consider the party's 2018 constitution. He said that the constitution provided by Election Commission of India is the relevant one to determine which faction is the real political party.
"The 2018 amended constitution of Shiv Sena cannot be considered as valid as it's not in the records of the Election Commission of India. As per Supreme Court orders, I can not delve into any other factor on which the constitution is valid. As per records, I am relying on the 1999 constitution of Shiv Sena as the valid constitution," said the Speaker.
Ruling in favour of the Shinde faction, Narwekar said that the decision of majority is the party's will.
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