Both factions of the Shiv Sena party had filed cross-petitions seeking disqualification of each other’s MLAs following a split in the party. In June 2022, Shinde and several MLAs had rebelled against then CM Uddhav Thackeray, leading to a split in the Sena and fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which also comprised the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
Rejecting the Thackeray faction’s request to disqualify 16 Shiv Sena MLAs including Shinde, Speaker Narwekar said there is no valid ground to disqualify them. No party leadership can use provision of 10th schedule for dissent or indiscipline within party, he added.
In his judgment, the Speaker also ruled that the conduct of the Shinde faction cannot attract disqualification and that MLAs going incommunicado cannot be a ground for disqualification.
“Which faction is the real political party is discernible from the legislative majority which existed when the rival factions emerged,” Narwekar said, adding that this can be inferred from the Shinde faction resolutions from 2022 and the admitted position from the initiation of petitions against 38 legislators of Shinde by the UBT faction.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray said that verdict by the Speaker was not acceptable and the party will challenge it in the Supreme Court.
Narwekar, in his ruling, said that he prima facie determined who is the political party as per the Supreme Court directives. He considered the relevant constitution of Shiv Sena, and leadership structure while deciding which faction was the real political party when two factions emerged. He rejected Shiv Sena (UBT)‘s demand of considering amended constitution and gave the order on the basis of old and unamended constitution of 1999.
The Speaker said that no consensus on the party constitution was submitted to the Election Commission of India. The parties have different points of view.
Speaking on the leadership structure, Narwekar held that Uddhav Thackeray had no power to remove Eknath Shinde from the post of the legislature party leader. Shinde’s decisions is an intra party dissent, he said.
Kharge, Sonia, Adhir decline Ram Temple ceremony invite, calling it a ‘BJP/RSS event’
In a statement, the party said the temple at Ayodhya has been a “political project” of the BJP and the RSS.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were invited to the pran pratistha (consecration ceremony) by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
“Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain,”Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.
Opinion, however, is divided within the Congress. A section of the party was keen to attend the event as they didn’t want the BJP to use “the absence of the principal Opposition party to target it as anti-Hindu and use it to polarise the electorate”.
Tamil Nadu bus strike | Madras High Court persuades trade unions to suspend strike till January 19
Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy recorded the submissions made by Senior Counsel Vijay Narayan, representing Anna Thozhirsanga Peravai, and advocate Balan Haridas, representing the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, that their members shall return to work in the public interest.
When Haridas apprehended that the transport corporations might end up taking departmental action against those who had resorted to the strike, pressing various demands, Additional Advocate-General J. Ravindran said there need not be any such fear, and that the employees would be allowed to resume work immediately.
The judges recorded the AAG’s submission, too, while disposing of a public interest litigation petition filed by S. Paul Kithiyon, a 25-year-old pharmacology student from Chennai. Senior Counsel P.R. Raman, representing the litigant, urged the court to declare the strike illegal because commuters were being put to inconvenience since January 9.
On his part, the AAG told the court that the trade unions could have waited till the next conciliatory talks involving the Labour Commissioner on January 19, with respect to issues such as wage revision, filling of vacancies and so on, rather than having resorted to a strike just before the Pongal festival.
As far as the demand for a revision of the dearness allowance to around 92,000 pensioners was concerned, he said that the issue was pending before the Supreme Court, which was scheduled to hear the matter on February 6. He urged the court to declare the strike illegal, as sought by the litigant.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice said that Pongal was the most important festival of the State. Therefore, he asked the State as well as the trade unions to arrive at an amicable solution, considering the plight of the general public, and not hold them to ransom. But both sides refused to budge.
While the AAG responded with a firm “no” to a suggestion from the Bench on the State paying ₹2,000 each to around 92,000 pensioners without prejudice to its rights, the trade unions also said they would not be willing to suspend the strike unless the government addresses their demands.
It was only after the Chief Justice began pronouncing orders and commented on the “adamant” attitude of both sides that the counsel for the trade unions came forward to give an undertaking that their members would suspend the strike till January 19 and return to work in the public interest.
Manipur government denies permission to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra rally
The yatra, to be led by party leader Rahul Gandhi, was set to commence from Imphal on January 14 and culminate on March 20 in Mumbai.
Confirming the development, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said: “This morning, we have learnt that the Manipur Government has declined permission to start the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the Palace Ground at Imphal. We are looking for an alternative site but we will start from Imphal itself”.
However party sources said that the Manipur government has given permission for the flag off at Palace Ground but not for the rally.
Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee president Keisham Megachandra termed the State government’s decision as “unfortunate” and a “violation of people’s rights”.
Megachandra said, “We met Chief Minister N Biren Singh and sought permission for the venue of ‘Bharat Joro Nyay Yatra’ at Hatta Kangjeibung in Imphal East district from where the rally is scheduled to be flagged off. However, the chief minister has declined to permit the same.”
On January 9, while addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Venugopal said Manipur was chosen to start the march to “heal the wounds” of its people who have been affected by the ethnic violence.
World looks at India as global growth engine: PM Modi at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit
He also said that in the rapidly changing world order, India is moving forward as “vishwa mitra” (friend of the world).
Speaking at the inauguration of the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, which saw participation of State heads and CEOs of top private companies, Modi said all major rating agencies are of the opinion that India will be among the three largest economies of the world in the next few years.
“India’s priorities are clear. India’s priorities are sustainable industry, infrastructure and manufacturing, new age skills, futuristic technology, AI and innovation, green hydrogen, renewable energy, semiconductors and its entire ecosystem,” he said.
If there is so much resilience and growth momentum in India’s economy in a global situation existing today, then the big reason behind this is our focus on structural reforms in the last decade. These reforms have increased the capacity, capability and competitiveness of India’s economy, he said.
The PM credited UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, who attended the summit as the chief guest, for the high growth of India-UAE relations.
India is continuously strengthening its partnership with I2U2 Group (comprising India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States) and other multilateral organisations, Modi said.
He said his government has made India’s banking system strong through recapitalisation and use of information technology, ended more than 40,000 compliances through the ease of doing business, GST and global supply chain diversion.
In brief
No information has been received yet about the surrender of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case after the Supreme Court quashed the Gujarat Government’s decision to grant them remission but a police force remains deployed in the area where they live to maintain peace, a senior official said. The convicts, however, are “not incommunicado” and some of them are visiting relatives, said Dahod Superintendent of Police Balram Meena.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
