SHINDE'S SENA IS 'REAL'

Maha Speaker seeks to please all’; no MLAs disqualified, Shinde gets Shiv Sena, govt survives; legal battle will continue, says Uddhav as Aditya vows to challenge verdict in SC

In a significant but "please-all" verdict, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday recognised the faction led by chief minister Eknath Shinde as the "real" Shiv Sena, but declined to disqualify the MLAs of both groups, including the Shiv Sena-UBT led by ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray, and ensured the survival of the ruling MahaYuti government.

The Speaker, in his much-awaited verdict, rejected the disqualification petitions filed by both the ruling Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena-UBT, and recognised the Shiv Sena's Bharat Gogawale as the chief whip, on various grounds.

While the ruling Shiv Sena welcomed the verdict with celebrations, distribution of sweets and 'V' signs calling it as the "triumph of truth", the opposition Shiv Sena-UBT termed it as a "murder of democracy and the Constitution" and vowed to challenge it in the Supreme Court.