The political crisis in Maharashtra has a few more twists and turns after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction in the state has decided to approach the Supreme Court over the removal of the party MPs from posts in the Lok Sabha.
The Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena has decided to move the apex court against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, filing a petition urging for the reinstatement of their MPs, also seeking the cancellation of the appointments made by the Eknath Shinde faction.
Uddhav Thackeray and his Sena faction have also decided to move the Supreme Court against the appointment of Rahul Shewale as leader of Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha in their petition against Parliament Speaker Om Birla.
In the petition, the faction led by the former chief minister of Maharashtra claimed that Om Birla did not maintain the basic rules of natural justice. It further said that the Speaker didn’t call for an explanation from the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party or the petitioners despite specific requests.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, who was the Chief Whip of the party under Uddhav Thackeray’s government, claimed that the MPs were removed from their Lok Sabha posts illegally and unilaterally by Speaker Om Birla during the Monsoon session of the Parliament.
This comes soon after a delegation of 12 Shiv Sena MPs, part of the Eknath Shinde faction of the party, approached the Speaker earlier this month and appointed a new Chief Whip and Leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.
While speaking to reports, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that he had done nothing wrong, and said, “In a democracy, numbers are important. Whatever we have done is under the ambit of the Constitution, laws, rules, and regulations.”
The rift between the party began when Eknath Shinde staged a rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray, backed by a majority of the Shiv Sena MLAs, and overthrew the MVA government to form an alliance with the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).
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