In a huge setback to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled on January 10 that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction was the ‘real Shiv Sena’ when the rival factions emerged on June 21, 2022. He also rejected disqualification petitions filed against 30 Shiv Sena MLAs from both factions, including Mr. Shinde himself, citing a lack of valid grounds.
Reading out his ruling on the disqualification petitions filed by the rival factions against each other’s MLAs, Mr. Narwekar also said that Sunil Prabhu, who belonged to the Thackeray faction, had ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022, and Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group had then become the authorised whip.
Script and Presentation: Nistula Hebbar
Production: Yuvasree S and Gayatri Menon
