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HomeJudiciaryShiv Sena, NCP, Congress move SC against Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar's oath...

Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress move SC against Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar’s oath taking

In their plea, the three parties have called Governor BS Koshyari's actions 'mala fide' and said he allowed himself to be a pawn in BJP’s usurpation of power.

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New Delhi: The Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress have moved the Supreme Court with a writ petition challenging Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s “arbitrary and mala fide actions” (sic) for “installing a minority BJP government led by Devendra Fadnavis” in the state.

In their plea, the three parties have claimed to have a clear majority. They approached the top court’s registry to file the petition Saturday evening but the matter was not listed till the filing of this report. The petition has named BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis and NCP’s Ajit Pawar as respondents.

Hours after Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra and Ajit as his deputy Saturday morning, NCP chief Sharad Pawar called a meeting of his MLAs at the YV Chavan Centre in Mumbai, the NCP headquarters, to take stock of how many had switched loyalties.

Dhananjay Munde, considered to be a close aide of Ajit Pawar and thought to be one of the defectors, made a dramatic entry into the meeting. The petition was filed soon after.


Also read: BJP’s overnight coup didn’t happen overnight at all, and Sharad Pawar likely knew about it


‘Koshyari has allowed himself to be a pawn’

The petition states that the BJP, on the intervening night of 22 and 23 November, “resorted to political machinations in an attempt to install a completely unconstitutional” government in the state.

The plea also goes on to cite reports that Koshyari had cancelled his travel plans to the “Governors conclave in the night of 22 November”.

The parties have further argued that there was no material submitted to show “Devendra Fadnavis had carried letters of support of 144 MLAs”. It states that all MLAs of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress were “completely and solidly with the alliance except for Shri Ajit Pawar”.

The Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress have accused the Governor of being “partisan” and acting “at the behest of a political party”.

“Governor has acted in a partisan manner and has made a mockery of the high office of the Governor. Governor’s actions culminating to the swearing in are a textbook example of the Governor acting at the behest of a political party in power at the Centre,” reads the plea.

They have also alleged that Koshyari has belittled the constitutional position of a governor and “allowed himself to be a pawn in BJP’s illegal usurpation of power”.


Also read: What happened in the dark of Friday night as BJP pulled off a coup in Maharashtra: A timeline


 

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2 COMMENTS

  1. In the case of Karnataka, the Governor had granted two weeks to the CM to prove his majority, which the apex court curtailed to a couple of days. In the present case, the period of one week may be reviewed by the SC.

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