Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar contradicted the Supreme Court on Wednesday by validating Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) leader Bharat Gogawale’s appointment as the whip. Last year, the Supreme Court had ruled Gogawale’s appointment as illegal. The developments in Maharashtra politics are becoming increasingly intriguing by the day, and now the ball is in the Supreme Court’s court. It will be interesting to see how the case unfolds for final clarity.

In his much-awaited verdict on Wednesday, Narwekar ruled that Eknath Shinde was the authentic Shiv Sena when the split occurred in 2022. However, he surprisingly ruled that MLAs from both factions were qualified. In a point-by-point rebuttal of every claim made by Uddhav Sena, Narwekar stated that the Shinde faction had the support of 37 MLAs on June 21, 2022. Thus, the Shinde faction was deemed the real Shiv Sena and the legitimate political party. He further declared that Sunil Prabhu ceased to be the whip and upheld Bharat Gogawale’s appointment as the chief whip.