Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday challenged Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to a public debate with him on which faction is the real Shiv Sena.

Narwekar on January 10 held in a long-awaited ruling that the Shinde faction was the real Sena while dismissing disqualification petitions filed by both Shinde and Thackeray camps against each other's MLAs following a split in the party in June 2022.

"I am taking this battle to the people's court," a combative Thackeray said at a press conference here.

If he was not the Shiv Sena chief, why did the BJP seek his support in 2014 and 2019 after Lok Sabha elections, he asked.

This battle (between his party and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena) would decide whether democracy will prevail in the country, Thackeray, a former chief minister, added.

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