MUMBAI: Almost two months after the Supreme Court directed Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar to take a call on the disqualification petitions filed by rival Shiv Sena factions within a reasonable time, the state legislature secretary finally issued show-cause notices to them. The notices were served on 53 of the total 55 Shiv Sena MLAs in the state — 39 members of the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 14 of the Uddhav Thackeray group.
One of the 14 MLAs from the Thackeray side, Santosh Bangar, joined the Shinde camp on the day of the floor test of the government on July 4.
Both sides have accused each other of defying the party whip during the Speaker’s election and the trust vote on July 3 and 4 respectively, seeking disqualification of the legislators from both sides.
The Shinde faction did not include Aaditya Thackeray, son of Uddhav Thackeray, to the list of legislators they wanted disqualified.
The notices have been issued under the Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Grounds of Defection) Rules. The legislators have been asked to explain their stand within seven days, sources said.
After winning the trust vote in the State Assembly on July 4, the Shinde faction issued a notice to 14 legislators from the Thackeray camp for violating a whip issued by his loyalist Bharat Gogawale.
A day before the floor test, Speaker Narvekar had recognised Gogawale as the Sena’s chief whip, removing Sunil Prabhu, who belonged to the Thackeray faction.
On July 3, BJP’s Rahul Narvekar was elected Speaker with 164 votes.