Maharashtra Speaker Issues Notices to Shinde, 53 MLAs Over Disqualification Petitions

New Delhi: Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Saturday, July 8, issued notices to MLAs of both factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification against each other, NDTV reported.

Narwekar said that 40 MLAs of chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and 14 of the Uddhav Thackeray faction have been issued notices seeking their replies on the disqualification petitions against them.

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This comes a day after Narwekar said that the hearing on the disqualification petitions against 16 MLAs including Shinde will start soon and that he had received a copy of the party's constitution from the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The Thackeray led faction had approached the Supreme Court earlier this week seeking a direction to expedite the hearings.

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MLA Sunil Prabhu, chief whip of the undivided Shiv Sena, had filed the disqualification petitions against Shinde and 15 other MLAs last year claiming to be the “real” Sena to form a government with the BJP, and several independent MLAs, the Hindu reported.

On May 11, the Supreme Court in its ruling said that Shinde would continue being the chief minister as Thackeray had chosen to resign without facing a floor test at the time of Shinde’s rebellion, NDTV reported.

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