Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday hit out at Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar for meeting Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ahead of his judgment on the petitions seeking disqualification of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Thackeray claimed Mr Narwekar's meeting with Mr Shinde on Monday is akin to a "judge meeting a criminal".
Mr Narwekar will give his verdict on Wednesday on the disqualification petitions against Mr Shinde and other MLAs, whose rebellion led to a split in the Shiv Sena in June 2022.
The Supreme Court last month extended the deadline to January 10 for Mr Narwekar to decide on the cross-petitions filed by rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs. Thackeray said since the Supreme Court directed Mr Narwekar in May last year to take a decision on the pleas seeking disqualification of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, the Speaker has met the chief minister twice.
"What justice can we expect from him tomorrow," the former chief minister said.
In June 2022, Mr Shinde and a number of other MLAs rebelled against then chief minister Thackeray, leading to a split in the Shiv Sena and collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which also comprised the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.
Cross petitions were filed by the Shinde and Thackeray factions seeking action against each other's MLAs under anti-defection laws.
After the rebellion in June 2022, Mr Shinde became the Chief Minister with the Bharatiya Janata Party's support.
In July last year, the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP also joined his government.
The Election Commission had given the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde-led faction, while the one headed by Thackeray was to be called Shiv Sena (UBT) with a flaming torch as its symbol.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
"Debt Must Be Reduced Without Affecting Growth": Nirmala Sitharaman On Fiscal Deficit
Shiv Sena Approaches High Court Again Over Disqualifying Team Uddhav MLAs Balasaheb Thackeray Dazzles In Portrait Made With 27,000 Diamonds "No More A Family Show": Shinde Camp Leader Seeks Ban On "Bigg Boss" Centre Fact-Checks Mamata Banerjee's Mic-Off Claim, She Hits Back At Olympics Opening Ceremony, Drag Parody Of 'The Last Supper' Draws Flak Children Of Indian-Americans Face Deportation As Time Runs Out Fake Billing Scam Worth Thousands Of Crores Unearthed: Punjab Minister 'What Kind Of Democracy?' Court Raps Cops For Seeking Action On Professor 11-Year-Old Chinese Boy Writes 600 Lines Of Code To Build Rocket Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.