1) The battle for claim to the Sena party name and also the fight for power tussle in Maharashtra is poised to enter a legal phase. Reports have confirmed that the Shinde camp meeting was on till late Saturday night. A lawyer, close to top politicians in Delhi, is the probable name to contest the Shinde camp’s arguments in court. The rebel camp holds that a minimum seven days-notice should have been given to reply to any summons/notice instead of two.
Shinde is preparing to counter the decision by moving the Bombay High Court. He has claimed that he has support of more than two third of the Sena’s Assembly strength and termed deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal’s decision unconstitutional. He added that deputy speaker Zirwal cannot take any decision when a No-Trust motion was pending against him.
2) The national executive of the Shiv Sena, Saturday, passed a resolution authorizing Maharashtra CM and party chief Uddhav Thackeray to take action against “those who have betrayed the party” but refrained from taking immediate action against rebel leader Eknath Shinde. The executive, which met in Mumbai, also passed a resolution that no other political outfit or faction can use the name Shiv Sena or the name of its founder, late Bal Thackeray, even as the Shinde faction, which is camping in Guwahati, declared its name: “Shiv Sena (Balasaheb).” The executive meet decided that Shiv Sena belongs to Bal Thackeray and is committed to taking forward his fierce ideology of Hindutva and Marathi pride.
3) A joote maro aandolan was held in Pune Sunday morning. After rebel supporters blackened the posters of Uddhav Thackeray in Pune, Shiv Sena supporters in Pune held a joote maro protest against the rebel MLAs amid the ongoing political crisis in the state.
4) In midst of the political turmoil in Maharashtra, the Central government, Sunday (June 26), provided “Y+” category armed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) security cover to 15 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs. Aaditya Thackeray has questioned the expense being provided, especially in view of the fact that the rebel camp is enjoying the hospitality of a state hit by floods and rain.
5) Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde called a meeting of MLAs at 12 PM at the Guwahati hotel, Sunday, to discuss further strategy. Earlier, Eknath Shinde said Shiv Sena workers should understand that he was fighting to save the party from the clutches of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). “Shiv Sena workers must understand that I want to free the party and its workers from the clutches of the MVA government and I have been working for the same. This battle is for the betterment of the party and its workers,” Eknath Shinde said in a tweet. Shinde and his supporters have said earlier that they want the Sena to pull out of the “unnatural” Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition with the Congress and NCP, and revive the alliance with BJP.
Also Read: Pride, Politics & Prejudice Aside, Why Does Maharashtra Matter?
