Sanjay Raut says, 16 rebel MLAs including Shinde stand disqualified as per SC observation

Shortly after the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment on the Shiv Sena-centric political crisis in Maharashtra, Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT) said if the top court has observed that Sunil Prabhu of Uddhav Thackeray faction of Sena remains the official whip, then as per its observation, 16 rebel MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, stand disqualified.

He said Speaker Rahul Narwekar cannot follow the official whip. Raut also asserted that since the process of formation of the government was illegal, the Shinde government is illegal. Supreme Court on Thursday held the Maharashtra governor was not justified in calling upon then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove majority in the Assembly on June 30 last year but refused to order status quo ante, saying he did not face the floor test and resigned.

It, however, said since Thackeray had resigned without facing the floor test, the governor was justified in inviting Shinde to form government at the behest of the BJP which was the largest political party in the house.