Team Thackeray Wants the SC to Freeze ECI Proceedings on “Real Shiv Sena” Recognition

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, July 25: Loyalists of the Shiv Sena’s incumbent president and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray have approached the Supreme Court to make the Election Commission of India (ECI) a party in its dispute with the rebel faction and freeze the proceedings before it on the plea filed by the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction for recognition as the “real” Shiv Sena with right to use the party’s ‘bow and arrow’ symbol.

The application filed by the Thackeray camp before he SC pointed out that the ECI did not pay heed to their request to stop its proceedings as the multifaceted issue, starting from the breaking away of the Shinde group to the resignation of Thackeray as Chief Minister and its aftermath, was already in its entirety being examined by the Supreme Court.

The Thackeray camp said the ECI had issued notice to their faction on July 22 despite being told that the apex court had orally sought status quo in the issue in order to avoid any irreversible changes while the court was seized of the case.

“Despite being asked not to precipitate the matter and stay its hand, the Hon’ble ECI has decided to initiate proceedings… Such proceedings will be in the teeth of settled law that an inquiry into a matter which is sub-judice before the court amounts to interference with the judicial proceedings,” the application said.

The Thackeray faction has now urged the court to include the ECI as a party in the case. On July 20, a Bench led by the Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana had queried whether the dissent of Shinde’s faction, without subsequently forming a new party or merging with another, amounted to a “split” from the original Shiv Sena party.

A “split” from the original political party without a subsequent merger with another party or formation of a new faction is no longer a defence from disqualification under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) of the Constitution.

While agreeing to look into this question in depth, the apex court had asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to maintain status quo on the disqualification proceedings against MLAs from both the Shinde and Thackeray factions. The latter group was issued disqualification notices by the Speaker after voting against Shinde in the floor test. The court had directed the Assembly Secretariat to keep its records in safe custody.

Meanwhile, the Shinde faction has launched a fresh attack on Thackeray questioning how many times he had visited the office of Maharashtra chief minister when he was in power and whether he gave time to the party workers.

Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson for the Shinde faction, said Thackeray’s “public appearances” have increased now, referring to the party outreach programmes launched by the Sena president after the collapse of his government last month.

A day earlier, Thackeray inaugurated a ward-level Shiv Sena office in south Mumbai and addressed party workers. “We have raised three questions and we have not yet received answers. As the chief minister (November 2019-June 2022), how many times did Uddhav Thackeray go to his (chief minister’s) office in Mantralaya and met Sena workers? Now, the frequency of his public appearance has increased,” Kesarkar told reporters. The BJP had often criticised the ‘absence’ of Uddhav Thackeray in the CM’s office during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A rebellion led by Shiv Sena veteran Eknath Shinde and 39 MLAs led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government last month. Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister on June 30 with Devendra Fadnavis of BJP as deputy CM.

Kesarkar also sought Thackeray’s reply on the claims made by rebel Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale that it was finalised in 2021 that Shiv Sena would join hands with former ally BJP while it was still ruling the state in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress.

“We also asked Thackeray about the details of the claims made by Sena rebel MP Rahul Shewale that it was finalised in 2021 itself to join hands with the BJP. If it was true then why these 12 MLAs were suspended and the deal called off,” he asked.

During the Maharashtra Assembly’s monsoon session last year, 12 MLAs of the BJP were suspended for one year for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer in the Assembly Speaker’s chamber. The Supreme Court later observed that the suspension of these MLAs for one year was prima facie unconstitutional.

Kesarkar said Maharashtra needed peace for progress. He said there was no point in organising rallies against leaders of the Shinde camp and trying to pressure them.

“In the last two-and-a-half years (when MVA was in power) maximum time was spent on criticising the Union government. How can one achieve development if you do not keep good relations with the Central government?” he asked without taking the name of Sena MP Sanjay Raut who is a vocal critic of the Centre.