Amid escalating political crisis in Maharashtra, former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, meanwhile, appealed to the rebel MLAs to come for talks. “Don’t fall prey to anyone’s missteps. The honour given to you by Shiv Sena cannot be found anywhere. If you come forward and speak, we will sort out the issues. As Shiv Sena party chief and family head, I am still worried about you. Come here for a dialogue,” he said.
Meanwhile, rebel leader Eknath Shinde stated that he will return to Mumbai soon and that his faction was taking “Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena forward”. He added that false information is being spread in public on MLAs being in touch with Sena leaders. This came after, Shiv Sena MP claimed that the party was hopeful of the return of a few MLAs, whom the party did not consider rebels as they were still in touch with them.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut who had been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), said that Devendra Fadnavis should not get involved in the crisis unfolding in the MVA government. “If they do, then their party (BJP), Fadnavis and PM Modi’s names will be tarnished,” Raut said.
On Monday, Uddhav Thackeray took away the portfolios of rebel ministers camping in Assam’s Guwahati and allocated them to other cabinet colleagues. h Shinde faction retaliated strongly on Sunday bringing higher education minister Uday Samant over to Guwahati to join the coup.
The rebel camp also moved the Supreme Court against the disqualification notices sent to 16 of their MLAs by deputy speaker of the state assembly Narhari Zirwal. A second petition demands that Zirwal recognise Shinde as group leader of the Shiv Sena’s legislature party.
Can’t disqualify rebel Sena MLAs
In a serious setback to the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, the Supreme Court on Monday protected rebel Sena MLAs from disqualification proceedings till July 12, directed the ruling coalition to ensure their safety in Maharashtra and importantly, refused the Sena NCP-Congress coalition’s request to stop the Shinde-led rebels from demanding a floor test in assembly.
Shinde tweeted on the SC order, “This is the victory of Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe’s thoughts. ”
SC refuses to bar floor test
The SC bench told senior advocate Devadatt Kamat that passing a restraint order on floor test would give rise to unnecessary complications but told him the MVA was free to move court if any illegalities were committed.
As recorded by SC in its interim order, Shinde has support of 39 MLAs, which means only 16 MLAs are with Thackeray-led SS. This in turn would indicate the MVA strength is down from 152 to 113. A party or coalition must muster support of minimum 144 members, as one seat is vacant in the Maharashtra assembly, to form government. The BJP has 106 MLAs in the House.
