A ruling with far-reaching implications

Has the latest SC ruling on the right and the wrong of deciding the majority during defections and splits permanently altered the course of our democracy restoring the Constitutional primacy? The judgment has a much larger implication for our democracy for sure.

The ruling of SC came in the wake of the feud between the Eknath Shinde group and Uddhav Thackarey group of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. As we all know Shiv Sena headed for a split with the Shinde group coming out of Uddhav’s fold protesting against the party joining hands with the Congress and the NCP to form Mahagathbandhan to make Uddhav the Chief Minister. The mandate of the electorate was for the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance and despite being the single largest party, the BJP could not come to power initially due to the demand of Uddhav that a rotation system be adopted. Shiv Sena was a coalition partner in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from 1998 until 2019, including the Vajpayee government from 1998 to 2004 and the Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019.

Under Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena formed an alliance with its former rivals, the Indian National Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, signalling a significant departure from its traditional pro-Hindutva stance. The party has had a powerful hold over the Hindi film industry. It has been described as an “extremist,” “chauvinist”, or “fascist” party. Shiv Sena has been allegedly involved in the 1970 communal violence in Bhiwandi, the 1984 Bhiwandi riot, and violence in the 1992–1993 Bombay riots. That the Uddhav faction now talks secularism is an irony of course. All that really matters to it is the ‘past glory’ to wield power. That’s all! Its leader has no moral authority to dictate morality to any politician as he himself ditched the larger mandate given by the Maharashtrians in the past in saying goodbye to the BJP.

It is to be seen now whether Uddhav gets back the party symbol and the original party tag now following the Supreme Court verdict. The Maha crisis has in fact set the ball rolling for this all-important judgment by the SC which has proclaimed the supremacy of the Constitution in no uncertain terms. In its judgment relating to the Maharashtra political tussle, the Supreme Court said that the appointment of Eknath Shinde as the Shiv Sena Legislative Party (SSLP) by the Speaker was illegal, as was the appointment of Whip and the floor test.

That the Court could restore power back to Uddhav is a different issue as he had prematurely resigned. It was an ill-advised move. He should have trusted the Judiciary more than any. But by moving the court Uddhav has done a great service to the country. The clear line drawn by the Court in separating the rights of the party and the legislature is also an important move. Any ruling dispensation will have to think twice and may be ten times more before attempting any split in the Opposition ranks now. Uddhav is now bound to challenge the ECI decision on the party symbol emboldened by the judgment. The ruling that the Governor had erred in calling for the floor test too has its implications. Whether all this could lead to more litigation is also to be seen even as a larger bench of the SC deals with the other issues in this connection.