Uddhav, Speaker spar as Maha awaits big verdict today

Mumbai: The political temperature rose in Maharashtra on Tuesday ahead of the crucial verdict by the assembly Speaker on the cross-petitions by Shiv Sena factions seeking disqualification of each other’s MLAs following a split in the party, an outcome which will decide the way forward for the Eknath Shinde government and also the regional outfit’s rival groups.

On the eve of the verdict, the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) upped the ante as its president Uddhav Thackeray said his party has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court objecting to a recent meeting between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is among the MLAs whose disqualification has been sought, and speaker Rahul Narwekar as both sides engaged in a verbal spat.

Narwekar is slated to deliver his much-awaited verdict on the disqualification pleas at 4 pm on January 10 (Wednesday), Vidhan Bhavan officials said, more than 18 months after the Shiv Sena suffered a vertical split, a political development that resulted in a change of guard in the state.

“If the judge (Narwekar) is going to meet the accused, what should we expect from that judge,” Thackeray asked, speaking to the media at his residence `Matoshree’ here. The affidavit before the SC was filed on Monday, the former CM said. Thackeray’s ally and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, too, said that when someone who is hearing a case meets the person against whom the case is being heard, it “leaves room for doubt”.

Hitting back, Narwekar said Thackeray should know for what purposes a speaker could meet a CM. “If he still levels such allegations, then his motive is very clear. There is no rule that a speaker, while hearing disqualification pleas, cannot do any other work,” Narwekar contended. The speaker met Shinde at `Varsha’, the chief minister’s official residence in south Mumbai on Sunday. Thackeray noted that the two had met in October last year too. Narwekar’s ruling will decide whether “democracy exists in the country or not” or whether the two (speaker and chief minister) will “murder” democracy, said the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader. “We have filed an affidavit asking whether there is collusion between the judge and the accused,” Thackeray said, asking whether there would be further delay by the speaker in giving the ruling.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed confidence about the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar group) government remaining stable going forward The senior BJP leader stressed that the alliance government is “legal” and hoped the speaker’s ruling will give justice to them.