"Judge Meets Criminal": Uddhav Thackeray Slams Speaker-Eknath Shinde Meet

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.

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