NEW DELHI, Aug 23: The “Sena Vs Sena” plea for recognition of the “real Shiv Sena between the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions in Maharashtra has gone to the five-judge Constitution Bench.
The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the chief justice NV Ramana on Tuesday referred the issue to the constitution bench and listed for its hearing on Thursday. The court also directed the Election Commission of India not to pass any order on Shinde’s plea that his faction be considered the “real” Shiv Sena and allocate the party’s “bow and arrow” symbol.
The three-judge bench which also included Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli said the issue raised various constitutional matters related to defection, merger and disqualification of sitting members and therefore should be heard by the Constitution Bench.
“List the matter before the Constitution Bench the day after tomorrow and the Bench will decide about the symbol related to the Election Commission proceeding at the beginning,” the Bench said on Tuesday. The Bench was hearing pending cases related to the recent political crisis in Maharashtra that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government headed by Thackeray following rebellion by a section of the Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.
Earlier in the day, the Thackeray faction hit out at the Maharashtra deputy chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis for his repeated references to Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. “Why are you seeking votes in the name of Balasaheb? Has your Modi era, Modi wave started receding?” an editorial in ‘Saamana’ asked.
Devendra Fadnavis has claimed he is working to fulfil the “dream” of Balasaheb Thackeray, which Sena said was a ploy to break the Marathi unity in Mumbai where civic polls are due.
The editorial said leaders like Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP are now embracing the “dream of Balasaheb”, but they did not remember the late Sena supremo while snapping ties with the party in 2014. They did not remember the dreams of Balasaheb while going back on the word of the Chief Ministerial post to the Shiv Sena in 2019, it said.
“Fadnavis’s words are akin to the deceitful invitation of a fox, and people of Mumbai and Thane should be cautious,” the Marathi daily said. “The language of ‘dream of Balasaheb’ used by the BJP is nothing but a ploy to break the Marathi unity in Mumbai and for that they are injuring the Shiv Sena,” it claimed.
Further hitting out at Mr Fadnavis, it said he is continuously chanting the name of Balasaheb. “He is saying give us votes in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections and we (BJP) will fulfil Balasaheb’s dreams. What is this sham? Which dream of Balasaheb are you going to fulfil?” it asked. “Your dream of creating a split in the Shiv Sena, was it the dream of Balasaheb?” it asked.
(Manas Dasgupta)
