Death blow to democracy: CPI (M) on Maharashtra Speaker's Sena split verdict

That the Speaker was subjected to extra-constitutional pressures was more than obvious when he was summoned to meet the CM, himself a defendant in the case, said Uday Narkar, State Secretary, CPI (M).

Mumbai: The CPI (M) on Thursday described as “death blow to democracy” the decision of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly’s Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who legitimised the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as head of the 'real' Shiv Sena - a development which came as a blow to Uddhav Thackeray.

The party is a member of the I.N.D.I.A opposition bloc.

“Nobody was surprised by the decision, kept in cold storage for several months, on the twin issues of disqualification of MLAs and which of the legislature factions represents the real Shiv Sena. The Speaker, himself a defector, was more than eager to please the 'higher powers', which had supplied the power and the pelf to topple the MVA government,” said Uday Narkar, State Secretary, CPI (M).

"The state government, headed by Eknath Shinde and now dishonourably assisted by two lieutenants Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, had been branded as 'illegal' by the Supreme Court, but has survived only with the protection of the super duo in Delhi. That the Speaker was subjected to extra-constitutional pressures was more than obvious when he was summoned to meet the chief minister, himself a defendant in the case,” he said in a press statement.

“Those who have captured the office in a coup, carried out with the help of a Governor who used to infamously don an RSS cap, and ably sponsored by central agencies and moneybags around the central BJP leadership, have continued to sink the governance of the state in a moral quagmire. The Speaker has only succeeded in putting this dying dispensation on a ventilator. The people of Maharashtra have condemned this daylight murder of democracy. The Maharashtra State Committee of the CPI(M) appeals to the people of the state to throw this shameful combine out of power at the forthcoming hustings,” he added.