In a significant development in Maharashtra's political landscape, the state's legislative assembly speaker, Rahul Narwekar, announced on Wednesday that he has rescheduled the next hearing on disqualification petitions filed by rival Shiv Sena factions. The hearing, which was initially set for Friday, will now take place on Thursday.
Talking to reporters, Rahul Narvekar said, “The (next) hearing on the disqualification pleas was scheduled to take place on Friday. But since I have to attend the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20) in Delhi on that day, I have advanced the schedule of the hearing. It will now be held on Thursday instead of Friday.” “I could have fixed a later date for the hearing, but I did not because I did not want to delay the hearing any further. I want to take a decision at the earliest over the matter,” he said.
In the previous month, Narvekar initiated the proceedings to address the disqualification petitions submitted by two opposing factions within the Shiv Sena, which are headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor, Uddhav Thackeray. The initial hearing took place on September 14.
Back in July, the speaker had issued notifications to 40 MLAs from the Shinde-led faction of Shiv Sena and 14 from the Thackeray faction, requesting their responses regarding the disqualification petitions lodged against them. A total of 54 MLAs, including CM Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, received the notices. Notably, MLA Rutuja Latke from the Sena (UBT) was exempt from receiving a notice, as she was elected subsequent to the Shiv Sena's division last year.
Sunil Prabhu, belonging to the Thackeray faction, had, in his capacity as chief whip of the undivided Shiv Sena, had filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and 15 other MLAs last year after they rebelled and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government in June 2022.
On May 11 of this year, the Supreme Court issued a ruling confirming Eknath Shinde's position as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The court further stated that it was unable to restore the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government, led by Thackeray since Thackeray had opted to resign without subjecting his government to a floor test following Shinde's revolt.
Amidst this legal battle, the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction has accused Speaker Rahul Narvekar of intentionally delaying a decision on the disqualification petitions. In response, Narvekar addressed these concerns on September 21, emphasizing that while he would not unnecessarily prolong the process, he would also not rush it, as haste could result in a "miscarriage of justice."