Uddhav Thackeray vs Eknath Shinde: Here's a timeline of battle for ‘real’ Shiv Sena

The Supreme Court is today going to pronounce its verdict on petitions filed by the rival Shiv Sena factions-- the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde related to the Maharashtra political crisis in 2022 which led to the downfall of Uddhav Thackeray's MVA government. The constitutional bench is going to rule on a batch of petitions including one of the petitions filed by Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray seeking to disqualify 16 MLAs from Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena those revolted against him, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

From Eknath Shinde's rebellion to camping in hotels till Uddhav Thackeray tendered his resignation, let's dig into the past to know how the Maharashtra political turmoil commenced.

Here is a timeline for the battle for the ‘real’ Shiv Sena

• June 20, 2022: It started when BJP won five out of 10 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections. The victory of the BJP came as a shock to the ruling Shiv Sena and that eventually led to factions inside the MVA government. Days later, senior Shiv Sena leader and rebel MLA Eknath Shinde disappeared with 11 other MLAs and flew to Surat in the BJP-governed state of Gujarat. The same day a meeting was called in by Uddhav where around 10-12 more MLAs were missing and unbreachable. Soon Shiv Sena housed the rest of the MLAs in different hotels in Mumbai in order to not lose them. Shinde informed Uddhav of having the support of more than 40 rebel MLAs and urged him to break the alliance with the NCP and Congress.
• June 23, 2022: Eknath Shinde was declared leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party by the rebel camp. Shinde then with 40 Sena MLAs, headed to the BJP-ruled states of Gujarat, Assam, and even Goa, before claiming the support of the saffron party to form the government in Maharashtra. Thackeray, on the other hand, was reduced to having the support of a mere 15 MLAs.
• The Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra assembly - Narahari Zirwal - served a disqualification notice to 16 rebel legislators after Shiv Sena filed a petition. On the same day, Uddhav moved out of his official residence 'Varsha' in south Mumbai, and shifted to Matoshree, the Thackeray family's private bungalow in suburban Bandra.
• June 26, 2022: After the rebel leader Eknath Shinde and his MLAs were served a disqualification notice by the deputy speaker Shinde, he moved to the Supreme Court and challenged the rejection of the no-confidence vote against the deputy speaker. Amid the growing internal feud, Uddhav sacked Shinde from the post of 'Shiv Sena leader'.
• June, 30 2022: After getting support from BJP, it was speculated that Shinde and rebel MLAs will extend support to the saffron party. To everyone's surprise, Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state whereas BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the Deputy CM. This came after Thackeray quit the post following the Supreme Court’s refusal to stay Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s direction to the MVA government to take a floor test in the Assembly. 
• July 3-4, 2022: A special two-day session of the Maharashtra assembly was called where legislator Rahul Narvekar of BJP was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The new Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde won the crucial floor test in the state Assembly with 164 votes polled in favour of him, and 99 against.
• October 8, 2022: Ahead of the November 3 Andheri (East) Assembly byelection, the Election Commission issued a temporary order freezing the Shiv Sena's "bow and arrow" election symbol. The Thackeray group was given the burning torch (mashal) and the name "Shiv Sena — Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray" by the EC. Shinde's group was allotted the name "Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena" with a symbol of two swords and a shield.
• December 15, 2022: The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its order on an appeal by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray challenging a single judge's decision dismissing his plea against an Election Commission interim order freezing the Shiv Sena name and election symbol. Thackeray claimed that the single judge's November 15 order, by which it had also directed the EC to expedite the proceedings, is “erroneous” and liable to be set aside.
• February 17, 2023: The Election Commission of India (ECI)  ordered that the party name 'Shiv Sena' and the party symbol 'Bow and Arrow' will be retained by the Eknath Shinde faction. However, team Thackeray asserted that the EC’s order will be challenged in the Supreme Court. 
• February 20, 2023: The Legislative Office of the Shiv Sena party at Vidhan Bhavan was handed over to CM Eknath Shinde's faction on Monday. The office was reported to be sealed after the beginning of the conflict in the Shiv Sena.