Former CJI Chandrachud had transferred the decision to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who ultimately favored the Shinde faction. Uddhav Thackeray later challenged Narwekar’s decision in the Supreme Court.
NEW DELHI: A day after the Mahayuti alliance’s landslide victory in the Maharashtra election, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut criticized former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, attributing the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) defeat to delays in ruling on disqualification petitions.
“The delay in deciding the disqualification pleas of our MLAs led to our loss. A timely verdict could have changed the scenario in Maharashtra,”
Raut asserted, referring to the 2022 Shiv Sena split when MLAs defected to support Eknath Shinde.
Former CJI Chandrachud had transferred the decision to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who ultimately favored the Shinde faction. Uddhav Thackeray later challenged Narwekar’s decision in the Supreme Court.
Raut accused Chandrachud of weakening the deterrent against rebellions and enabling political defections by not delivering a verdict on time.
“History will never forgive him,” he declared.
In the election, Shiv Sena (UBT) secured only 20 of the 95 seats it contested, while Congress won 16 out of 101, and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) managed just 10 seats. Describing the results as “unexpected,” Raut blamed the RSS for Mahayuti’s success, alleging they conducted divisive door-to-door campaigns.
He also questioned the electoral success of Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, asking, “What great work did they do to deserve this?”
Commenting on the leadership, Raut sarcastically suggested that the “Gujarat lobby” would decide the Chief Minister.
“They should hold the swearing-in ceremony in Gujarat,” he remarked.
In response, NCP leader Sanjay Shirsat advised Raut to focus on strengthening his party instead of making accusations. Mocking Raut, he thanked him for supposedly aiding Mahayuti’s victory with his remarks. “Don’t lecture us on where to take the oath, whether in Surat or London,” Shirsat retorted.
