A bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana will on July 20 hear a clutch of petitions on the dispute between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray seeking disqualification of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs. The Thackeray camp claims the Eknath Shinde-led government is "illegal" until the top court decides on disqualifications, and the rebels claim they are the real Sena with an overwhelming majority of party MLAs.
The Shiv Sena had on July 12 appealed to the Maharashtra Governor not to administer the oath to any minister in the Shinde-Fadnavis government, saying the legality of the decision to appoint Eknath Shinde as the Chief Minister is in question.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut today also demanded the imposition of President's rule in Maharashtra till the constitution bench of the Supreme Court gives its verdict.
The apex court last week had asked newly-elected Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar not to proceed with the plea seeking their disqualification which was sought by the Shinde camp on the ground of defying party whip during the trust vote and the election of the speaker.
Maharashtra Legislature Secretary Rajendra Bhagwat had issued show cause notices to 53 Shiv Sena MLAs. Forty of the notices have been sent to the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the other 13 belong to the Uddhav Thackeray group.
Both the groups have sought the disqualification of legislators from the rival faction.
Split in Shiv Sena engineered as Delhi realised that Thackeray can emerge as national leader: Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who is the executive editor of party’s mouthpiece in his weekly column Saamana, on Sunday, alleged, ‘’A split was engineered in the Shiv Sena because Delhi realised Uddhav Thackeray can emerge as a national leader in future.’’
After the revolt by Sena MLAs led by Shinde, the Thackeray government in Maharashtra collapsed last month. Raut claimed there is talk in the BJP that Devendra Fadnavis was forced to become the deputy CM in the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led government so that he does not rise at the national level.
He further claimed that Delhi (central government) never wants Maharashtra's leadership to grow independently and has always pulled it down, be it formation of the 'Sanyukta Maharashtra' (in 1960) with Mumbai as its capital and the issue of inclusion of Belgaum and other places with Marathi-speaking population of Karnataka into Maharashtra.
Raut said just like Shinde now, Ajit Pawar had rebelled in 2019 and formed the government with Fadnavis. The BJP legislators then did not say the NCP will finish off their party, he said.
"If the BJP-NCP alliance had continued, would it be called an unnatural alliance? There is nothing natural or unnatural in politics," Raut said.
The Rajya Sabha member further said in 2014, when there was a delay in government formation, NCP leader Praful Patel had announced his party's support to the BJP.
"Sharad Pawar shares a good equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP had then not rejected the NCP's support," he said.
