Uddhav raises eyebrows as Speaker meets CM ahead of key Sena ruling

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said his party has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, objecting to the meeting between Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and state Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar before the verdict on the Shiv Sena MLAs' disqualification petitions.

Thackeray told reporters here that the affidavit was filed on Monday. Narkwekar is scheduled to deliver the verdict at 4 pm on January 10. “If the judge (Narwekar) is going to meet the accused, what should we expect from that judge?” Uddhav Thackeray asked, in his media interaction at Matoshree, his residence in suburban Bandra. Narwekar met Shinde at Varsha, the chief minister's official residence, on Sunday.

The two also met in October last year. In June 2022, Shinde and several MLAs had rebelled against then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, leading to a split in the Sena and fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which also comprised the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress. Cross petitions were filed by the Shinde and Thackeray factions seeking action against the other under anti-defection laws.