Eknath Shinde ‘Chief Leader’ Of Shiv Sena? No Such Post In Party’s 1999 Constitution, Says Kapil Sibal | Explained

Published 12 August 2026 · india

News explainers Eknath Shinde ‘Chief Leader’ Of Shiv Sena? No Such Post In Party’s 1999 Constitution, Says Kapil Sibal | Explained Eknath Shinde ‘Chief Leader’

News explainers Eknath Shinde ‘Chief Leader’ Of Shiv Sena? No Such Post In Party’s 1999 Constitution, Says Kapil Sibal | Explained Eknath Shinde ‘Chief Leader’ Of Shiv Sena? No Such Post In Party’s 1999 Constitution, Says Kapil Sibal | Explained Published By, Last Updated: August 12, 2026, 19:25 IST Sena vs Sena: "2018 changes took place in Shinde's presence. After 2022 exodus, EC sent notices to original members, while person who travelled to Guwahati became CM," says Sibal Rapid Read Lok Sabha Speaker Clears Merger of 6 UBT Rebel MPs With Shinde's Shiv Sena. Does Shiv Sena have no post of ‘chief leader’? If Kapil Sibal’s arguments are to be believed, the post assumed by Eknath Shinde, who claims to be heading the ‘real Shiv Sena’, does not exist in the party’s 1999 constitution. The Supreme Court is hearing the long-running dispute over the ownership of the Shiv Sena name and election symbol before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohan. The court is also hearing petitions challenging the Election Commission’s decision to recognise the Eknath Shinde faction as the official Shiv Sena and petitions against Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision not to disqualify Shinde and other MLAs. He questioned whether the commission could claim in 2023 that the party did not have a provision for the post of party chief when the organisational structure and appointments had been publicly known for years.

‘Eknath Shinde was around when changes were made in 2018’ Sibal argued that the organisational changes made in 2018 had taken place in the presence of Eknath Shinde and questioned how the same changes could subsequently be described as undemocratic. He also referred to the political developments that followed the 2022 rebellion, saying that members of the original party leadership were issued notices while the person who travelled to Surat and Guwahati subsequently became chief minister, News18 Marathi reported. Kapil Sibal questions EC During the previous hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal questioned the Election Commission’s jurisdiction and argued that the identity of a political party cannot be determined solely on the basis of which faction has a majority in the legislature. Sibal referred to Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act and said that, under the relevant provisions, political parties are required to inform the Election Commission about changes to their name, headquarters, office-bearers or address. “What information did we provide to the Election Commission?" Sibal asked, arguing that the issue was being unnecessarily disputed. Uddhav Sena communicated changes to EC: Sibal Sibal said his responsibility had been to communicate the names of the party’s office-bearers to the Election Commission. According to him, the commission was aware that changes had taken place within the party and had sought information on them. He also challenged the Election Commission’s claim that it did not have the party constitution from 2018.