New Delhi/Mumbai: The government formation in Maharashtra has come under the Supreme Court’s scrutiny with the Centre being asked to produce before the court Monday morning the letters of the Governor inviting Devendra Fadnavis as well as the communication of the BJP leader staking his claim.
As the stunning political drama shifted to the apex court Sunday, a day after Fadnavis returned as the chief minister, the Shiv Sena claimed that the Sena-NCP-Congress combine has a support of 165 MLAs and can comfortably prove its majority in the Assembly. The BJP also claimed that Fadnavis had the support of 170 MLAs. The majority mark in a House of 288 is 145.
In an unprecedented special hearing Sunday, a bench of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna, however, rejected the plea by the three-party combine to direct the Fadnavis government to undertake the floor test within 24 hours. It said this issue would be dealt with only after perusing the two letters.
According to BJP leader Ashish Shelar, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has given time till November 30 to the new government to prove its majority on the floor of the House.
During the 30-minute hearing that began at 11.30am in a packed court room, the apex court said the plea of the post-poll alliance, ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’, seeking a direction to the Governor to invite them to form government under the leadership of Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray would not be considered for the present.
The top court also issued notices to the Centre, Maharashtra government, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar on the petition filed Saturday night by the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party(NCP)-Congress combine against the Governor’s decision to swear in the BJP leader as the chief minister.
Ajit Pawar, meanwhile, set the political circles abuzz with his statement that he is still with the NCP and that Sharad Pawar continued to be his leader. Sharad on his part said, there is no question of forming an alliance with the BJP.
“Ajit Pawar’s statement is false, misleading and aimed at creating confusion, false perception among people,” Sharad stated.
As the NCP, the Congress and the Shiv Sena shifted their MLAs to three luxury hotels in Mumbai, the rival alliances claimed majority support. Security was tightened outside the hotels to thwart any poaching attempts, police said.
“The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress (together) have 165 MLAs. If the governor calls for an identification parade, in 10 minutes we can prove our majority,” Sena leader Sanjay Raut told reporters.
Talking to reporters, BJP’s Ashish Shelar claimed that Fadnavis has the support of more than 170 MLAs and the BJP government will prove its majority on the floor of the House. He however, did not elaborate.
In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP is the single largest party with 105 MLAs, followed by Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress party having 56, 54 and 44 members respectively.
NCP leader Nawab Malik said the swearing-in took place on the basis of bogus documents and that Fadnavis does not have the numbers. Malik also said that out of the five NCP MLAs reported ‘missing’ till Sunday morning, two returned and another one posted a message on social media stating he was with the NCP.
There was a flurry of meetings with Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting Sharad Pawar at the suburban hotel where the NCP MLAs were staying.
Fadnavis, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and Union Minister Raosaheb Danve were among those present at a meeting held at the Mumbai BJP office Vasant Smriti in Dadar, party sources said.
Ajit Pawar, meanwhile, returned to his private residence near Churchgate in the early hours of Sunday and later met his supporters and some party leaders. He spent Saturday at his brother’s home here.
Congress leader and former state chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in a joint plea by the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena said they have sought the Supreme Court’s intervention to order a floor test immediately.
Agencies