Sibal slams Maharashtra Speaker Narwekar's ruling over Shiv Sena feud

A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction was declared the "real" Shiv Sena, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Thursday said the "play was scripted long ago" and what was watched was the "farce" being played out with no recourse.

In a big political win for Shinde, assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday held that the Shiv Sena faction led by him was the "real political party" when rival groups emerged in June 2022, and did not disqualify any MLA from the two camps.

The ruling cemented Shinde place in the top job, 18 months after his rebellion, and added to his political heft in the ruling coalition which also consists of the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

In a post on X, Sibal said, "Speaker (as Tribunal): Shindes faction is real Sena. The play was scripted long ago. We watch the farce being played out with no recourse."

"That is the tragedy of this 'mother of democracy'," the former Union minister said.

In his 105-minute-long reading of the key points of the much-awaited ruling on the cross-petitions by Shiv Sena factions seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs following a split in the party in 2022, Narwekar also rejected the Uddhav Thackeray faction's petition to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling group, including Shinde.