Uddhav takes swipe at BJP: Referring to Ajit Pawar joining the Maharashtra government along with eight MLAs, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday (July 9) said that he is waiting to see how the BJP handles its new ‘riff-raffs’.
“I do not think the BJP deserves anything to be said about it. It has no right to preach us. I am just waiting to see how the BJP handles the new riff-raffs,” Thackeray said when asked about his views on the ruling BJP.
On July 2 this year, NCP's Ajit Pawar led a split in his party and joined the Shinde government as deputy chief minister. Eight other NCP MLAs also took oath as state cabinet ministers.
Talking about the petitions seeking disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said that if the Assembly Speaker bypasses it, the doors of the Supreme Court are open.
“The state Assembly Speaker will have to take a decision on it within a given framework. If the Speaker to bypass it, the Supreme Court's doors are always open for us,” he said.
Thackeray’s Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed in June last year following massive a revolt led by Eknath Shinde against the Shiv Sena leadership. Shinde later took over as the Chief Minister with BJP's support.
What has the Speaker said?
Notably, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Saturday said that notices have been issued to 40 MLAs of Shinde-led Shiv Sena and also 14 of the Uddhav Thackeray faction including his son Aaditya
Thackeray. He has sought their replies within seven days on the disqualification petitions against them.
Narwekar on Friday said he has received a copy of the Shiv Sena's constitution from the Election Commission of India, and that hearing on the disqualification petitions against 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including CM Shinde, would start soon.
Commenting on the pleas seeking disqualification of the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, Thackeray said the Supreme Court has already given a framework to the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker.
"The Speaker will have to take a decision on the disqualification issue within the given framework. If he tries to bypass it, the Supreme Court's doors are always open for us,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) recently approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Assembly Speaker to hear the disqualification petitions expeditiously.
On May 11, the top court ruled that Eknath Shinde will continue to be the chief minister of Maharashtra. It cannot reinstate the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government headed by Uddhav Thackeray as the Sena leader chose to resign without facing a floor test in the wake of Shinde's rebellion, the court said.
(With PTI inputs)
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