11 January,2024 12:43 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Kapil Sibal. File Pic
A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction was declared the "real Shiv Sena", Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Thursday said the "play was scripted long ago" and what was watched was the "farce" being played out with no recourse.
In a big political win for Shinde, assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday held that the Shiv Sena faction led by him was the "real political party" when rival groups emerged in June 2022, and did not disqualify any MLA from the two camps.
The ruling cemented Shinde place in the top job, 18 months after his rebellion, and added to his political heft in the ruling coalition which also consists of the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
In a post on X, Sibal said, "Speaker (as Tribunal): Shindes faction is real Shiv Sena. The play was scripted long ago. We watch the farce being played out with no recourse."
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"That is the tragedy of this 'mother of democracy'," the former Union minister said.
In his 105-minute-long reading of the key points of the much-awaited ruling on the cross-petitions by Shiv Sena factions seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs following a split in the party in 2022, Narwekar also rejected the Uddhav Thackeray faction's petition to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling group, including Shinde.
After Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that the Eknath Shinde faction was the 'real' Shiv Sena, the Lok Sabha MP from the Shiv Sena (UBT), Priyanka Chaturvedi, dragged the BJP into the matter saying that everything happens in accordance with the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, reported news agency ANI.
"I am not surprised at all. We are all aware of the saying 'Wahi hota hai jo manzoor-e-khuda' hota hai' (Whatever happens is determined by the will of God). However, after 2014, there's a new saying -- 'Wahi hota hai Jo manzoor-e-Narendra Modi aur Amit Shah hota hai' (Whatever happens is determined by the will of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah). That is what we are seeing in Maharashtra," Priyanka Chaturvedi told ANI on Wednesday.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
