Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 19 (ANI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday described the Shiv Sena election symbol dispute as a “sub judice” matter and declined to comment on the ongoing Supreme Court hearing, while asserting that the people of Maharashtra had given the government a landslide mandate in 2022.
Speaking on the Supreme Court proceedings in the case challenging the Election Commission’s decision recognising the Shinde-led faction as the “real Shiv Sena” and allotting it the party name and “bow-and-arrow” symbol, Shinde said he did not consider it appropriate to comment while the hearing was underway.
“The hearing is currently underway, so I do not consider it appropriate to comment on it. However, Kapil Sibal was raising these very same issues during the hearings held two years ago; the same arguments are being repeated now. I will only state that this matter is sub judice, and therefore, I do not wish to comment on it,” Shinde said.
However, he emphasised the importance of the people’s mandate in a democracy and pointed to the government’s electoral victory following the political developments in Maharashtra in 2022.
“Nevertheless, I must emphasise that in a democracy, the majority holds great significance. The government formed there in 2022 was accepted by the people of Maharashtra. The people of Maharashtra gave their blessings, and the government returned with a landslide mandate,” he said.
Shinde further said the scale of the mandate received by the government was unprecedented in Maharashtra’s political history.
“People ought to appreciate the fact that a government securing such a substantial majority–this has happened for the first time in the history of Maharashtra,” he said.
The remarks come days after the Supreme Court observed that safeguarding constitutional democracy was a “collective responsibility” while hearing the challenge filed by the Uddhav Thackeray faction against the Election Commission’s decision in the Shiv Sena symbol dispute.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, was hearing arguments by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who sought a reconsideration of the constitutional framework governing disqualification of legislators and the role of the Election Commission in party-symbol disputes.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice observed that the mechanism for deciding disqualification of legislators may require a relook and suggested that the task could potentially be assigned to an independent tribunal.
Sibal also questioned the Election Commission’s reliance on subsequent political developments while determining entitlement to a party symbol under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order. (ANI)
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