Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray stated on Thursday that those who stole members from his party will be compelled to remain inactive after December 31. This timeline aligns with the anticipated ruling by the Maharashtra assembly speaker on the disqualification petitions submitted by the conflicting factions within the Shiv Sena.
Thackeray, currently on tour of the Konkan region, has in the past accused Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of stealing the Shiv Sena after the latter rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership and split the party. Those who have stolen our party, those who are attempting to steal (the legacy of) our grandfather (Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray), will have to sit at home after December 31, said Aaditya, a former state minister. The disqualification pleas filed by the Thackeray and Shinde factions of the party against each other's MLAs are presently under consideration by assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar.
Back in July, Speaker Narwekar sent notices to 40 MLAs from the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde and 14 MLAs from the Thackeray faction. These notices were served in order to request their responses to disqualification petitions that had been filed against them. The notices were issued against a total of 54 MLAs, including CM Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray. But notice was not issued against Sena (UBT) MLA Rutuja Latke who was elected after the Shiv Sena split last year.