'Victory of democracy': Eknath Shinde as faction declared 'real political party'

Listen to Story Hours after Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday held that the Eknath Shinde led faction of the Shiv Sena was the "real political party" when rival groups emerged in June 2022, the Chief Minister congratulated the "Shiv Sainiks" in the state. "Firstly, I sincerely congratulate all the Shiv Sainiks of the state.

Today, democracy has once again won. Lakhs of voters in the state who voted for Shiv Sena BJP alliance candidates in 2019 have won today. This is the victory of the Shiv Sainiks, who went out with the banner of the thoughts of Hindu Heart Emperor Balasaheb Thackeray," a rough translation from Eknath Shinde's post on X in regional language suggested.

"It has been proved once again that we are the true heirs of Balasaheb's and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe's Hindutva views. Today's victory is the victory of truth. Satyamev Jayate...," the Chief Minister added. "Today's result is not a victory for any party, but a victory for the Indian constitution and democracy.

The majority is always important in a democracy. Shiv Sena, the parent party, has been officially handed over to us by the Election Commission and the bow and arrows have also been handed over to us. Apart from electoral alliances, the tendency to form governments with others was fatal to democracy.

After today's result, that kind of thing will stop. From today's results, the dictatorship and the dynasty have been broken." "No one can decide as per his mind considering the party as his property. This judgment also holds that a party is not a private limited property. In a democracy, political parties should also be run democratically, even the party president cannot be arbitrary, as this verdict has highlighted," Shinde tweeted.

"This is a result that is very progressive and holds political leaders accountable. It is a decision that respects the vote of the electorate and preserves its discretion in a democracy. This judgment has given a lesson to leaders who commit the heinous crime of breaking ideas for power, making unnatural alliances and trampling on trust," the Chief Minister wrote on X.

Reading out his ruling on disqualification petitions filed by the Shinde led Sena and the rival faction led by Uddhav Thackeray against each other's MLAs, Speaker Narwekar on Wednesday said that Sunil Prabhu of the Sena (UBT) ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022, and Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group became the authorised whip.

As the tenor of the ruling became clear, celebrations broke out among Chief Minister Shinde's supporters, who burst firecrackers, while Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Aaditya Thackeray said their party would approach the Supreme Court against the Speaker's order. The Speaker also held that the Shiv Sena 'pramukh' (chief) did not have the power to remove any leader from the party.

He also did not accept the argument that the will of the party chief and the will of the party were synonymous. The 1999 party constitution submitted to the Election Commission was the valid constitution for deciding the issues, and the Thackeray group's contention that the amended constitution of 2018 should be relied on was not acceptable, he added.

The 1999 constitution made the 'Rashtriya Karyakarini' (national executive) the supreme body, he said..