Maharashtra Legislative Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar said that after the Supreme Court’s May 11 verdict, he will have to first recognise in the House which faction of the Shiv Sena is the political party before going ahead with any other decision.
The petitions demanding the disqualification of MLAs are pending with the Speaker. Their main contention is about not following the whip’s order, he said.
In its verdict on the Shiv Sena-centric tussle that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra last year, the Supreme Court on May 11 said it can’t reinstate the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as he chose to resign without facing the floor test.
Refusing to disqualify the 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the top court said it cannot ordinarily adjudicate disqualification petitions under the anti-defection law and directed Speaker Narwekar to take a decision on the pending matter within a reasonable period.
Here we have to take a decision with retrospective effect. For that, I need to conduct hearings with both sides and their representations, said Narwekar. When asked about Supreme Court terming Bharat Gogawale’s appointment as Sena’s chief whip by Shinde illegal, Narvekar said, It is not permanently illegal. After following due procedure, Gogawale can still become the chief whip of the party.