Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray instructed to demonstrate his majority tomorrow. A BJP team informed the governor the day before that the coalition in power had lost its majority.
Mumbai/New Delhi: The Shiv Sena filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s ruling shortly after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was instructed to demonstrate his majority tomorrow. The Governor took action a day after being informed by a BJP delegation that the coalition in power had lost its majority.
The Governor stated in a letter urging the state assembly secretary to organise the floor test because “the current political scenario developing in the state of Maharashtra depicts a very frightening picture.”
Team Thackeray questioned the short notice given that the Supreme Court had given the rebels till July 12 to answer to disqualification notifications. Team Thackeray has lost the majority of its party’s MLAs to dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, one of the few steadfast supporters of Uddhav Thackeray, said, “The Governor moved faster than the speed of a jet. It was jet speed. Even a Rafale jet is not as fast as this.” Although he did not state it directly, Sena leaders have charged the Governor with partiality.
According to Mr. Raut, Uddhav Thackeray will appeal the Governor’s decision to call a special assembly session for the majority test to the Supreme Court. Any such action was “illegal,” in his words, because the Supreme Court had not yet rendered a decision about the MLAs’ disqualification.
Mr Raut said, “We have maintained that without taking action against these MLAs, no floor test can take place. Everything we have done has been legal. We will pursue legal action and are challenging this legally. Fight against us from the front if you must.”
He added, “Regarding the governor, I won’t say much. Although he is the head under the Constitution, we will need to take whatever steps we think necessary if this way of operating continues.”
The rebel Eknath Shinde, who has maintained contact with the BJP leadership at every turn, has cost Uddhav Thackeray more than 40 MLAs. He travelled to Surat in BJP-ruled Gujarat last week after initially departing from Mumbai with a gang of separatists. He then took a flight to Assam, another state governed by the BJP. After spending a week under state protection in a posh hotel in Guwahati, more than 50 MLAs will depart for Goa today.
In the week-long unrest in Maharashtra, the BJP, which has denied any involvement in the coup, made its first significant move when former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met with the Governor last night and demanded that Uddhav Thackeray demonstrate his majority.
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