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Maharashtra Political Crisis LATEST Updates:The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress alliance on Saturday evening approached the Supreme Court against Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision to invite BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis to form the Maharashtra government.
The apex court is set to hear the matter at 11. 30 am tomorrow.
Bench of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna to hear Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress plea tomorrow at 30 am
– Bar & Bench (@barandbench)November 23, 2019
Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra for the second consecutive term. PTI
In its petition, the Sena alleged that the dispensation in Maharashtra was a “minority government” and that the governor exercised his discretion illegally. The Sena also requested that a floor test be conducted within 24 hours to prevents attempts at poaching
This development came after an astounding twist on Saturday morning when Fadnavis returned as chief minister propped up by Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Ajit Pawar, who was made his deputy.
Just hours earlier, the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress alliance had reached a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray would be their chief ministerial candidate.
Fadnavis and Ajit were sworn in by Koshyari around 7. 30 am at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai after President’s Rule in the state was lifted in a dramatic overnight development.
Ajit’s decision created a fissure in the NCP, whose chiefSharad Pawar distanced himselffrom his nephew’s dramatic action, saying the decision to back Fadnavis for his second consecutive term was “a personal choice” and not that of the party.
Later in the day, the NCP removed Ajit as the party’s legislature unit head, saying his move was not in line with the party’s policies and gave state unit head Jayant Patil temporary rights until the election of a new leader.
There has been no official confirmation on reports that the governor has asked Fadnavis to prove his majority in the Assembly by 30 November.
There were also reports that Fadnavis and Ajit met the governor separately late last night, after which he sent a report to the Center suggesting that the President’s Rule be lifted.
‘Murder of democracy’
After the dramatic early morning swearing in, leaders of the Sena and Congress cried foul, calling the governor’s action as a “murder of democracy” and a “black day in the history of Maharashtra”.
While Uddav Thackeray said it is a surgical strike on the people of Maharashtra and they would avenge it, Sena leader Sanjay Raut accused Ajit of stabbing people of Maharashtra in the back by deciding to join hands with the BJP.
The Congress termed the swearing-in a “black chapter” in India’s history, and said the BJP acted as a “contract killer” of democracy and the governor once again proved to be BJP chief Amit Shah’s “hitman”.
23 नवंबर का दिन महाराष्ट्र और देश के लोकतांत्रिक इतिहास में एक काले *** के तौर पर दर्ज होगा, जब संविधान को पांवों तले रौंद दिया गया!
अवसरवादी अजीत पवार को जेल की सलाखों डर दिखा कर,
सत्ता की हवस में अंधी ने, प्रजातंत्र की सुपारी ले हत्या कर डाली!pic.twitter.com/5Bp2YqMvFU– Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala)November 23, 2019
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said “opportunist” Ajit, accused by the saffron party in the past of corruption, was “scared” of being put behind bars by the BJP.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot demanded the resignation of the governor on “moral grounds”, asserting that he acted in connivance with the BJP to make Fadnavis the chief minister. Asserting that the ‘Aghadi’ combine would come to power, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said that the three parties would fight the situation on the political and legal front.
‘We have electoral, moral mandate’
The BJP, however, asserted that it had the “electoral and moral” mandate to form a government in Maharashtra and brushed aside the criticism of its alliance with NCP leader, saying the tie-up was guided by the “given situation “.
The swearing-in ceremony was held soon after the President’s Rule, imposed on 12 November, was revoked. President Ram Nath Kovind signed the proclamation for revocation of the Central rule and a gazette notification to this effect was issued at 5. 47 AM.
As questions cropped up whether a meeting of the Union Cabinet was held to recommend revocation of the President’s Rule, a senior home ministry official said the approval was given by the Central government by invoking a special provision of The Government of India ( Transaction of Business) Rules which gives the prime minister special powers.
The Rule 12 says: “Departure from Rules.- The Prime Minister may, in any case or classes of cases, permit or condone a departure from these rules, to the extent he deems necessary “. The prime minister gave this approval, which acts as post-facto approval of the Union Cabinet, the official said.
The swearing-in ceremony came as a political shocker, with Sharad describing his nephew Ajit Pawar’s decision to join hands with the BJP an act of indiscipline, and said his nephew and other MLAs of the party who have switched sides would attract the provisions of the anti-defection law.
By the end of the day, atleast nine of the 11 NCP MLAs who had accompanied Ajit to the Raj Bhavan reiterated their loyalty to the senior Pawar and claimed to not know about the reason behind their being summoned in the morning.
NCP MLA Diliprao Bankar tweets, “My faith is on Sharad Pawar, I am with NCP only. I went to Raj Bhavan when Ajit Pawar asked me to go with him” .# Maharashtrapic.twitter.com/xBfOI (uQ)
– ANI (@ANI)November 23, 2019
NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde, a staunch supporter of Ajit Pawar, was present at the meeting of party legislators at the YB Chavan center in south Mumbai later in the day.
Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde arrives at YV Chavan Center for NCP meeting.pic.twitter.com/7LIDLNJLf7
– ANI (@ANI)November 23, 2019
Regarding the letter of support submitted to the governor, Pawar said that the governor had been misled by Ajit. “Ajit, by virtue of being the NCP legislature party leader, possessed the list of all the 54 party MLAs with names, signatures and constituencies for internal party use. I presume he has submitted that list as a letter of support to the governor.If this is true, the governor has been misled, “he said.
Meanwhile, reports emerged that the Congress would shift its MLAs to a resort in Jaipur to avoid horse-trading.
Speaking to BJP workers at the party office in Mumbai, Fadnavis said he would give Maharashtra a strong government with Ajit Pawar’s support. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “Modi hai toh Mumkin Hai! “
Meanwhile, claiming that the new BJP-led dispensation would not pass the floor test, the senior Pawar asserted that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine has the numbers and will form the government.
The senior Pawar said he was not aware if his nephew decided to support the BJP out of the fear of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Ajit is among those named in the multi-crore Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam case.
NCP Chief Sharad Pawar after a meeting with party MLAs in Mumbai. PTI
The NCP chief also rejected the speculation that Ajit’s defiance was the result of power struggle with Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule over the post of chief minister. Sule put up a WhatsApp status regarding a split within the party and the family.
Pawar said the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena, along with Independents and smaller parties, have the support of 169 to 170 MLAs, and they were ready to form the government.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik too asserted that the NCP, Congress, Sena combine had the numbers to prove majority and added that they would defeat the BJP-led government in the Assembly Speaker’s election.
Fifty of the party’s 56 MLAs reportedly attended the party’s meeting headed by Sharad Pawar, raising questions regarding the exact number of NCP MLAs who had lent support to the BJP.
The day’s dramatic events also saw a missing person’s complaint being filed for an MLA from the NCP. Shahapur MLA Daulat Daroda went ‘missing’ after reaching Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai in the morning. Daroda left his constituency in neighbor Thane, along with his son Karan on Friday night and has been unreachable after reaching Mumbai, a police official said.
The BJP and the Sena, which fought the Assembly polls in an alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively in the 288 – member House. The Sena broke its three-decade ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister’s post on a rotational basis.
The Congress and the NCP, pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats respectively. After the BJP and Sena both failed to stake claim to government formation, the governor had invited the NCP to form government.
President’s Rule was imposed in the state after no single party or alliance could stake claim to form government. The Sena, Congress and NCP had been in talks ever since and had drawn up a common minimum program which would serve as the agenda if the combine came to power.
With inputs from PTI
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Updated Date: Nov 24, 2019 09: 01: 42 IST
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