2 hrs ago
Supreme Court Questions Majority Test in Shiv Sena Dispute
The Shiv Sena party split into two groups in 2022.
One group is led by Uddhav Thackeray, and the other is led by Eknath Shinde.
The Election Commission gave Shinde’s group the Shiv Sena name and the bow-and-arrow symbol.
Thackeray’s group challenged that decision in the Supreme Court.
The judges asked whether having more lawmakers should be enough to decide which group is the real party.
They also wondered whether lawmakers who change sides should still bring their earlier election support to the new group.
Shinde’s lawyers said the Election Commission had considered votes, lawmakers, and parliamentary strength.
The court said it can review how the Election Commission used its judgment.
The hearing will continue next week.
The Supreme Court questioned whether legislative strength alone should determine the rightful Shiv Sena faction.
The case concerns the Election Commission’s decision to give the Shinde faction the Shiv Sena name and bow-and-arrow symbol.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked whether legislators’ votes should still count after they switch political allegiance.
The Shinde faction defended the Election Commission’s approach, citing legislators’ vote shares and parliamentary strength.
The court will continue hearing the Uddhav Thackeray faction’s challenge next week.
- Who
- The Supreme Court, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, the Eknath Shinde-led faction, and the Election Commission are involved.
- What
- The court is examining a challenge to the Election Commission’s recognition of the Shinde faction as the official Shiv Sena and its allocation of the bow-and-arrow symbol.
- Where
- The dispute concerns the Shiv Sena and its factions in Maharashtra.
- When
- The Supreme Court heard the matter on Thursday and will continue hearing it next week; the party split occurred in June 2022.
- Why
- The Thackeray faction contests the Election Commission’s use of legislative strength and related factors to determine the party’s name and symbol.
Uddhav Thackeray Faction
Eknath Shinde Faction
Use of legislative majority
Uddhav Thackeray Faction
The Thackeray faction is challenging the Election Commission’s recognition of the Shinde group and has raised concerns about relying on legislators who changed political allegiance.
Eknath Shinde Faction
The Shinde faction argues that the Election Commission properly considered legislative strength, vote shares, votes polled, and parliamentary strength.
Meaning of election support
Uddhav Thackeray Faction
The Supreme Court questioned whether votes originally cast for candidates representing one party can be treated as support for those candidates after they join another faction.
Eknath Shinde Faction
The Shinde faction points to the electoral performance of its legislators, who the Election Commission said received nearly 76% of the relevant votes.
Scope of court review
Uddhav Thackeray Faction
The challenge asks the court to examine whether the Election Commission considered all relevant options and possible outcomes before deciding the party’s identity.
Eknath Shinde Faction
The Shinde faction defended the Election Commission’s discretion to decide the dispute using the factors it considered.
Key facts
- Party split
- The Shiv Sena split in June 2022 after Eknath Shinde claimed the support of 39 of its 55 legislators.
- Election Commission decision
- In February 2023, the Election Commission gave the Shinde faction the Shiv Sena name and bow-and-arrow symbol.
- Vote-share figures
- The Election Commission said Shinde-backed legislators accounted for nearly 76% of votes polled for the 55 Shiv Sena candidates who won in 2019, while the Thackeray faction accounted for 23.5%.
- Earlier Supreme Court ruling
- In May 2023, the court said the Maharashtra governor had erred in deciding that the Thackeray government had lost its majority, but it did not restore the government because Thackeray had resigned.
- Assembly speaker’s decision
- In January 2024, Speaker Rahul Narwekar held that the Shinde-led group was the real Shiv Sena in the Assembly.
- Thackeray faction symbol
- The Uddhav Thackeray faction now uses the mashal, or torch, symbol.
Quotes
Supreme Court Constitution bench
The five-judge bench that previously ruled on the Shiv Sena dispute
“Today, the voter actually votes for a party, not for the representative.”
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“This is not a game of numbers, but of something more.”
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Sources
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