Shinde Says Political Party Cannot be Anyone's Private Limited Company

Mumbai: A day after the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar dismissed the petitions to disqualify 54 Shiv Sena MLAs, chief minister Eknath Shinde hailed it as the defeat of nepotism and authoritarianism. He alleged that Uddhav Thackeray was trying to run the party as his private limited company. The Thackeray faction confirmed that it will challenge the Speaker’s decision in the Supreme Court.

Calling it a victory of democracy, Shinde said that not only Shiv Sena workers but common people are also celebrating the Speaker’s verdict. “On one side it is the victory of democracy and on the other side it is the defeat of authoritarianism, dictatorship and nepotism. Nobody can run a political party a private limited company,” he said.

The Maharashtra CM said that he was always confident about the Speaker’s verdict because he had the support of the majority among the state legislators, Lok Sabha members as well as the party organisation. He added that the majority is important in a democracy.

Criticising Uddhav for forming the post-poll alliance with the Congress and NCP, Shinde said, “We contested the 2019 election in alliance with the BJP. But after winning the elections, a new alliance was formed with the Congress and NCP, which was against the party principles set by Balasaheb Thackeray. Those who disregarded Balasaheb’s ideology have received a tight slap yesterday (Wednesday). We are following Balasaheb’s ideology which is why lakhs are party workers are supporting us,” he said.

However, Shinde expressed surprise over the Speaker’s decision not to disqualify the MLAs of the Uddhav faction. Calling it an unexpected decision, Shinde said he will consult his party’s legal team to decide the future course of action.

The Speaker held that Uddhav Thackeray and his faction’s will was not synonymous with the party’s will because the 2018 leadership structure of the party was not as per the 1999 constitution, which is on the records of the ECI. The Thackeray faction has argued that the Shiv Sena constitution was amended in 2018 by which all powers were given to the party president. However, the ECI has denied that the 2018 amendments were brought to its notice and also rejected the amendments terming them “undemocratic”.

“The party affairs were conducted as per the party’s constitution till Balasaheb was alive. But after his death, the party affairs were conducted as per the whims and fancies of few. There was internal jealousy and insecurity in the party’s leadership,” Shide said without naming Uddhav.

The Uddhav faction leader Anil Parab said that the Speaker’s decision will not survive the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. “When the SC directed the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions, it also set a framework for him. But that framework has been violated by the Speaker. If the decision was as per the framework given by the SC, the Shinde faction MLAs would have been disqualified. Soon this matter will go to SC and the court will take cognisance of violation of its directives,” he said.

Meanwhile, there were reports about the fresh discord in the Uddhav faction of Shiv Sena and some leaders have directly questioned Uddhav why the 2018 party constitution amendments were not properly registered with the ECI. However, Parab dismissed the reports and said, “We are fighting unitedly.”