Mumbai: Following the political unrest in Maharashtra, former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, on Thursday, moved the Supreme Court against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision to invite Eknath Shinde to form the government. The apex court agreed to hear the plea on July 11. The court is scheduled to hear other pleas about the Maharashtra political crisis as well.
The rebellion within the Shiv Sena, led by the newly appointed Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, had singlehandedly led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Many leaders had defected to Shinde's faction, causing Uddhav Thackeray to lose the majority. What started out as a small rebel group eventually became the bigger party. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had extended an invitation for Shinde to form the government.
The Uddhav faction on July 4 moved the Supreme Court challenging the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's action of recognizing the whip of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group as the whip of Shiv Sena. The apex court will be hearing the matter on July 11. While the case was pending, Governor Koshyari convened a two-day special session to elect the Speaker of the Assembly and prove the majority.
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The Shinde faction was given a whip which was recognized as Shiv Sena's whip. Uddhav's faction raised objection to this decision, claiming that Shinde is "not the party" and that out of the two whips issued to both sides, only one would be counted which was a blatant disregard for democracy.
The faction led by Thackeray also challenged the validity of assembly proceedings which were held on July 3 and July 4 wherein a new Speaker was elected and a floor test, to prove the majority was conducted. Several petitions have been filed by Thackeray's followers on various issues related to the political turmoil in Maharashtra. The hearings for all of these petitions have been set for July 11.
The Supreme Court will also hear on July 11 a petition regarding the disqualification of 16 MLAs who defied the whip. Eknath Shinde claimed to be the "real Shiv Sena" as he has the support of more than two-thirds of the party MPs.
On July 3, the Maharashtra Assembly elected BJP MLA Rahul Navarkar as the speaker. One of the first decisions he took as the Speaker came as a major blow to Uddhav's faction of Shiv Sena as the party leader Ajay Chaudhary was replaced by Eknath Shinde. All of these petitions have been slated for hearing in the apex court of India on July 11. All eyes are focused on the decision of the Supreme Court.
