"Didn't Disqualify Team Thackeray MLAs As...": Maharashtra Speaker Explains

Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar told NDTV: "There was no evidence to show this whip was properly served upon the MLAs belonging to the Thackeray faction. Since this filter was not cleared, it was not appropriate to hold them disqualified"

Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar today explained his decision not to disqualify the members of the Uddhav Thackeray camp -- a question the Shiv Sena UBT chief had pointedly asked. While the naming of Bharat Gogawale as whip "proper", it is not certain that the whip to attend the party meeting was "adequately and properly served" to Thackeray faction MLAs, he said.

"It appears that this service is not complete. There was no evidence to show this whip was properly served upon the MLAs belonging to the Thackeray faction. Since this filter was not cleared, it was not appropriate for me, under the principles of natural justice, to hold them disqualified," Mr Narwekar told NDTV in an exclusive interview, declaring all the details are mentioned in the written version of his order.

Mr Thackray had raised the point today while talking to the media, questioning why, if their version of the constitution was not valid, they were not disqualified.