'Party not a private property': Eknath Shinde after Maha Assembly Speaker declares his Shiv Sena faction a 'real political party'

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday congratulated the Shiv Sainiks or Shiv Sena workers in the state hours after Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar declared his faction of the Shiv Sena as a "real political party".  Shinde said in a post on X formerly Twitter that the faction's win in the symbol wars against Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) or Shiv Sena (UBT) faction belonged to the Shiv Sena workers "who went out with the banner of the thoughts of Hindu Hrudya Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray."

In a setback for Shiv Sena (UBT), Narwekar on Wednesday held the Shinde faction was "real Shiv Sena" when rival groups emerged in 2022 and refused to disqualify the MLAs of the camp. 

The Uddhav Thackeray faction sought the disqualificaiton of Shinde camp MLAs on the grounds they did not attend the legislature party meeting called by the then chief whip Sunil Prabhu. The Shinde camp, however, passed a resolution that appointed Bharatshet Gogawale as the chief whip. 

"On this ground, I hold that Shinde faction cannot be held to be disqualified since it is the real party and Sunil Prabhu ceased to be the whip from the moment the faction emerged," Narwekar said.

He added that the 1999 party constitution submitted to the Election Commission was the 'valid constitution' for deciding the issues. Narwekar also noted that the Uddhav Thackeray-led camp's argument that the amended party constitution of 2018 should be factored in is not acceptable. 

The post further read, "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. Satymev Jayate...". He also noted that this win is not restricted to party lines but is a triumph of democracy and the Constitution of India. 

"Majority is always important in 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," he further said. 

The Maharashtra CM also said that "dictatorship and dynasty" have been broken due to this outcome of the tug of war between the Thackeray and Shinde factions as now no leader will be able to make any decision as per his whims and fancies thinking of the party as his fiefdom. 

"From today's results, the dictatorship and the dynasty have been broken. No one can make a decision as per his mind considering the party as his own property. This judgement also holds that a party is not a private limited property. In a democracy, political parties should also be run in a democratic manner, even the party president cannot be arbitrary, this verdict has highlighted," Shinde noted. 

Meanwhile, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis congratulated Shinde and said that the government will complete its full term. Fadnavis further said in a post: "Under the leadership of CM Ekanth Shinde, constitutional and legal procedures were completely followed while forming the government in the state. That is why this government is strong and stable. And we have been saying this from the beginning."

While the Shinde faction was elated at the Speaker's announcement, all was not well within the Thackeray faction. Commenting on the development, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said that calling the Shinde camp 'real Shiv Sena' was "an insult to the Supreme Court order" and "murder of democracy". 

He added that he would move the apex court to challenge this verdict. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that the Speaker's verdict in the matter was "not at all surprising". 

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