Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, in the Supreme Cpurt argued that the Eknath Shinde faction can not claim to be the original party. “You can’t claim that you are the political party. And you say you are the political party sitting in Guwahati. Political party is decided by the Election Commission. You can’t declare sitting in Guwahati.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Uddhav side, said, the only defence available to the Eknath Shinde camp is a merger with the BJP which they are not claiming.
A bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Hima Kohli heard the petitions filed by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde faction and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray faction — over the political crisis. Appearing for the Eknath Shinde faction, Harish Salve said, “In India, we confuse political parties with some leaders. I belong to Shiv Sena. My chief minister refuses to meet me…I want a change of CM. This is not anti-party, this is intra-party.”
