Day after Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar declared chief minister Eknath Shinde’s party as the real Shiv Sena and turned down demands to disqualify either faction’s lawmakers, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday called it the death of democracy.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Raut said, “Paying tribute — Democracy — 1950 – 2023 — Mournful: Maharashtra.”

Raut also posted a picture with a garland sitting across a frame which had Democracy written on it in Marathi.

Wednesday witnessed a triumph for the ruling coalition of Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the contentious struggle for dominance within the regional outfit founded by Bal Thackeray.

Narwekar’s decision, made weeks after the Supreme Court set a deadline for him to resolve longstanding petitions from rival Sena factions, ensures the stability of the Maharashtra assembly’s composition and safeguards Shinde’s position as the chief minister.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Raut said, “The Supreme Court gave the Assembly Speaker a responsibility to work as a tribunal so that justice is served. But our Assembly Speaker (Rahul Narwekar), who is now a BJP leader, previously served in the Shiv Sena, Congress, and many other parties, chose to be a lawyer of the ‘dishonest faction’ of (Eknath) Shinde. Then how can justice be served?”

Soon after the judgement was announced, Raut lashed out at the BJP calling them traitors. He said that the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction will approach the Supreme Court against Narwekar’s ruling.

The Rajya Sabha MP said, “The Shiv Sena will never be finished and the people of Maharashtra will not accept the Sena of these traitors. This is BJP’s conspiracy and this was their dream that one day they would finish Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. But Shiv Sena won’t finish with this one decision.”

Raut described the order as a “conspiracy” and expressed that it marked a “black day” for the Marathi community. He added, “The order (by the speaker) has been received from Delhi, we do not accept it. This order is not according to law and the Constitution.”