Maharashtra Government Live: Supreme Court To Hear Sena-NCP-Congress Plea Today
Catch all live updates on the ensuing drama around the formation of the Maharashtra government.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing For Monday
The three-judge Supreme Court bench has adjourned the case for Monday without any directive on the immediate floor test sought by Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena.
It further asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to place before it on Monday morning before 10:30 a.m. the letters of the Governor recommending revocation of President's Rule and inviting Devendra Fadnavis to form government in Maharashtra.
A bench of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna also issued notices to the Centre and Maharashtra government on a petition filed by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine against the Maharashtra Governor's decision to swear in Fadnavis as chief minister.
The court issued notice to Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
The apex court declined the fervent request of Mehta seeking two days time to place the Governor's communication on record.
Sharad Pawar Replies To Ajit Pawar's Tweet
Ajit Pawar’s statement is false and misleading in order to create confusion and false perception among the people, said Sharad Pawar, NCP Leader, in response to Ajit Pawar’s tweet claiming he’s still a part of NCP.
Ajit Pawar Maintains He's Part Of NCP
He further went on to thank most of BJP’s senior party leaders who congratulated him and Devendra Fadnavis on forming the government, on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, late Sunday night.
BJP Welcomes Supreme Court Order, NCP Says Fadnavis Will Fail Floor
Hours after the Supreme Court asked the Centre to place before it on Monday the letters of Maharashtra Governor recommending revocation of President's rule and inviting Devendra Fadnavis to form government, the BJP said the court's decision strengthens its claim that Ajit Pawar continues to be the NCP's legislature party leader.
The bench declined fervent request of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta seeking two days time to place Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's communication on record and asked him to produce letters by Monday at 10.30 a.m. when the matter will be taken again.
In the special hearing on a holiday, the apex court issued notices to the Centre and Maharashtra government on the petition filed by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine against the governor's decision to swear in Fadnavis as the chief minister.
A bench of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna also issued notice to Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
Reacting to the court's decision, Shelar said, "The game is up for the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena. Ajit Pawar can issue whip to the NCP legislators."
The NCP, however, claimed the Devendra Fadnavis government will be defeated in the floor test, scheduled for Nov. 30.
Reacting to the Supreme Court's decision, NCP leader Nawab Malik said, "The swearing-in took place on the basis of bogus documents. Devendra Fadnavis does not have the numbers." "It is better if he quits on his own, else face defeat on the floor of the House during the trust vote," he said.
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.
"We expect the rest to return by evening," he said.
The BJP and the Sena, which fought the last month's Assembly polls in an alliance, secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively.
The Sena, however, broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.
The Congress and the NCP, both pre-poll allies, won 44 and 54 seats respectively.
Parties Hold Separate Meetings Post Supreme Court Hearing
Maharashtra BJP Bats For No Floor Test
There is no need for court to pass an order today. There was no illegality in the Governor’s decision. The court should not pass order to fix date of floor test. The three parties here [Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress] have no fundamental rights.Mukul Rohatgi, Advocate Appearing For Maharashtra BJP
Rohatgi went on to say that this is an important issue and should not have been heard this way. “The court must issue notice to the concerned parties. And hear the issues in detail. And we must spend our Sunday in peace.”
Other Highlights:
- Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appears for Centre, says combine does not have fundamental right to form government, their plea can't be allowed.
- Advocate Rohatgi, appearing for some BJP and independent MLAs says this plea should have been filed in Bombay High Court.
- There is no dispute that floor test is the best method to show majority, says Justice Ramana.
Shiv Sena Questions Governor's Actions, Seeks Floor Test Today
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, arguing for Shiv Sena, stated that the Governor’s action yesterday were bizarre and suggest that he was acting under direct instructions.
“When someone has announced at 7 p.m. that we will stake the claim, then on what basis did he invite someone else to form the government,” he said, seeking a floor test for the BJP government today itself.
The act of governor smacks of bias, malafide, violation of all norms of Supreme Court.Kapil Sibal, Senior Advocate Arguing For Shiv Sena
At the same time, Mukul Rohatgi appearing for certain BJP MLAs, said that there should not be a hearing on a Sunday for a case like this.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for NCP and Congress said, “the Governor is obligated to be satisfied on basis on written document, signatures and physical verification... Where is the proof that Governor did any of this”. “Any letter of support submitted by Ajit Pawar is illegal,” he added.
This is a complete betrayal and annihilation of principles of democracy. How is that someone who claimed majority yesterday is shying away from proving the majority today?Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Senior Advocate Appearing For NCP, Congress
Hearing Begins
A three-judge Supreme Court bench has begun the hearing of a joint petition against the appointment of BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra’s chief minister.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal starts arguing for Shiv Sena while Abhishek Singhvi is appearing for NCP and Congress.
Ajit Pawar's Biggest Mistake, Says Shiv Sena's Raut
Ajit Pawar took false documents to the Raj Bhawan yesterday which the Governor then accepted, said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, in conversation with ANI. “Even if today, Governor asks us to prove majority, we can do it right now. 49 NCP MLAs are with us,” he said. In total, Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine have 165 MLAs, he added.
Raut went on to say that Ajit Pawar has made the “biggest mistake of his life by backstabbing Sharad Pawar at this age”.
Supreme Court Set To Hear Sena-NCP-Congress Plea Today
The Supreme Court of India is set to hear the joint petition by Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress against the appointment of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra’s chief minister, at 11:30 a.m. today.
The petition will be heard by a three-judge bench comprising of Justice NV Ramana, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi to appear for the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party in Supreme Court today.
This comes after a day of dramatic politics which included allegations of kidnapping and blackmail among other multiple plot twists in the story of Maharshtra’s government formation which culminated in Devendra Fadnavis swearing in as the chief minister.
In The Meanwhile...
What Happened Yesterday
In the morning, the Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to have outwitted everyone to come to power in Maharashtra. Hours later, Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar seems to have engineered a comeback. And it’s still not over yet.
His nephew Ajit Pawar, the man at the centre of the drama, was sacked as the legislature party leader by the NCP on Saturday evening. That dealt a blow to the BJP’s math as the party had claimed support from at least 35 NCP legislators after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered oath to Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and Ajit Pawar as his deputy early in the morning, and asked them to prove majority by Nov. 30.
The BJP with 105 MLAs in a 288-member state assembly had fallen short after Shiv Sena with 56 MLAs split the alliance seeking the chief minister’s post. Last night, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had emerged as the consensus leader for the alliance between the Shiv Sena, the NCP (54) and the Congress (44). But things changed overnight.
No one knew when the BJP and Ajit Pawar staked claim, and when the President’s Rule in the state was revoked—it later turned out that the notification came at 5:47 a.m. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory twitter post broke the news to most people in the morning, setting off a day packed with drama.
Sharad Pawar and Thackeray went into damage control, calling a joint press conference. Pawar senior called his nephew’s decision to support the BJP his personal call and threatened action against him, saying the alliance was intact and had the support of NCP.
After series meetings and press conferences, his party’s MLAs who were at the rival camp’s morning oath ceremony started trooping back—at least nine had returned by evening. Sharad Pawar installed loyalist Jayant Patil as the head of the legislative group till a new leader is elected.
Meanwhile, the alliance moved the Supreme Court against the governor’s decision to call Fadnavis to form the government, terming his action “malafide” and “unconstitutional”.
