Uddhav was never in position to lead Sena: Shinde camp

The Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, as part of its strategy to prevent action under the anti-defection law against its members, has alleged that Uddhav Thackeray was never in a position to lead the party, asserting that the majority of its legislators backed Shinde to head the party, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

- Surendra P Gangan

The arguments were made during the ongoing proceedings on disqualification petitions filed by both factions against each other's legislators before the assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar. The current leg of the proceedings, during which the Shinde faction cross-examined leaders from the Thackeray group for seven days, ended on Saturday. The cross-examination of Shinde group by the Thackeray faction will begin on December 7.

Led by senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, Shinde faction's counsel cross-examined Thackeray faction's chief whip Sunil Prabhu and party office secretary Vijay Joshi. The counsel raised a question mark over the amendments to the Shiv Sena constitution in January 2018 that reiterated Thackeray as the party chief, alleging it was not disclosed before the Election Commission of India (ECI).