Uddhav Thackeray

Petitions filed on January 12 by Bharat Gogavale, the chief whip of the ruling Shiv Sena against the 14 MLAs, said they were challenging the "legality, propriety and correctness" of the January 10 order passed by Speaker Rahul Narwekar dismissing the disqualification petitions submitted by him against the rival camp Assembly members.

The speaker had also rejected the Thackeray faction's plea to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling camp, including Shinde.

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.

Uddhav Thackeray had no power to remove Eknath Shinde from the post of legislature party leader, says Narwekar.

All eyes will be on the ramifications of the decision which comes just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections scheduled in the state later this year.

The stakes are high as an order against the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction could affect the stability of the state government.

Ahead of the the Lok Sabha polls, the two factions are anticipated to take aim at each other in their respective rallies. These factions have been in conflict as they vie for the title of the 'true inheritor' of the legacy of the late party supremo, Bal Thackeray.

Activists of the BJP's youth wing, led by BJP city president Devidas Kale, gathered at Gandhi Chowk in Latur and attacked an effigy of the MVA alliance with footwear.

News Highlights: By September 30, JKC will just need to invest the final Rs 100 crores in Jet Airways to take control of the storied airline. JKC has already invested Rs 250 crore in Jet Airways.

In an editorial in 'Saamana', the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said while Hindus are dying in the attacks orchestrated by Kuki militants, the "superpower" (a reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party) championing "so-called Hindutva" has shut its eyes.

The Shiv Sena split in June last year after the rebellion of Shinde against then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and the party name and 'bow and arrow' symbol was allotted later to the former.

The Congress-led Karnataka government on Thursday approved the revision of Kannada and Social Science textbooks of Classes 6 to 10 in the state for this academic year by removing the chapters on RSS founder K B Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar among others.

Nitish Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders in the country in a bid to unite them to take on the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Arvind Kejriwal was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha members Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha, as well as Delhi minister Atishi.

The two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders arrived here on Tuesday evening.

"The gift of life to the 16 MLAs is temporary because the Supreme Court has given a reasonable time' and it has limitations. The Speaker must take his decision at the earliest," Thackeray said.

Addressing a news conference shortly after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in last year's Shiv Sena-centric political crisis in the state, Thackeray also slammed the then governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for calling upon him for the floor test.

The top court also referred the 2016 Nabam Rebia verdict by a five-judge constitution bench, which relates to the power of speaker on disqualification of MLAs, to a larger bench of seven judges.

Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders to strengthen the bloc against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The judgment is expected to answer legal questions such as the validity of the governor's decision to ask former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to face a floor test and should the governor have asked the rebel faction leader Eknath Shinde to take oath as chief minister.