"No reason to doubt stability of Maharashtra government": DyCM Fadnavis after 'real Sena' verdict

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 10 : Hours after Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar stated that the Eknath Shinde faction was the real Shiv Sena following the June 2022 split in the party, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asserted that there is now no reason to doubt the stability of the government.
"After the order given today by the Speaker citing various rules, there is no reason to doubt the stability of the government even now. I repeat this government will complete its tenure! I heartily congratulate Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his colleagues," the Deputy Chief Minister said in a post on 'X' on Wednesday.
Fadnavis emphasized that he had consistently maintained that "constitutional and legal procedures" were followed when the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in Maharashtra.
"From the very beginning, we have been saying that constitutional and legal procedures were fully followed while forming the government in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknathrao Shinde, and that is why this government is strong," he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister further asserted that the Supreme Court declined to issue any order to dismiss the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state.
"That is why the Honorable Supreme Court also clarified in its order that there is no need to issue any order to dismiss this government," Fadnavis said.
Taking a dig at the opposition, Fadnavis said, "But some people were deliberately and repeatedly trying to destabilize the atmosphere in the state by spreading misconceptions about the government."
Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker rejected the disqualification cross-petitions filed by rival Shiv Sena groups in a crucial verdict and announced the Eknath Shinde faction of the party as the "real Shiv Sena."
"All the petitions seeking disqualifications are rejected and no one is disqualified from any faction of Shiv Sena," the Speaker said as he read in the state assembly a lengthy verdict that went into on Shiv Sena constitution and changes made to it.
He said "decision of Paksha Pramukh cannot be taken as the decision of the political party" and "Shinde faction was real Shiv Sena when rival factions emerged" in June 2022.
"In my view, the 2018 leadership structure (submitted with ECI) was not as per the Shiv Sena Constitution. Shiv Sena party chief as per the party Constitution cannot remove anyone from the party...Uddhav Thackeray removed Eknath Shinde or any party leader from the party as per the party Constitution. So the removal of Eknath Shinde by Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022 is not accepted based on the Shiv Sena Constitution," the Speaker said.
"Also, the will of the members of the leadership structure of 2018 cannot be the will of the political party, as there are contradictory views and claims about the majority in the leadership structure by both factions," he added.
The Speaker said that given the evidence and records before him, prima facie indicates that no elections were held in the year 2013, as well as in the year 2018.
"However, I as the speaker exercising jurisdiction under the 10th schedule have limited jurisdiction and cannot go beyond the record of the ECI as available on the website and hence I have not considered this aspect while determining the relevant leadership structure," he said.
"Thus, given the above conclusions, I find that the leadership structure of Shiv Sena reflected in the letter dated February 27, 2018, available on the website of the ECI is the relevant leadership structure that has to be taken into account to determine which faction is the real political party," the Speaker said.