Mumbai: Just hours before the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the Maharashtra Assembly elections kicked in Tuesday, the ruling Mahayuti government swore in seven MLCs to the Legislative Council of the governor’s quota of 12. The Opposition, particularly the Shiv Sena (UBT), has alleged that the move is “unconstitutional”.
“A court case is going on regarding the 12 names that we (the Maha Vikas Aghadi) had given when our government was there. The Bombay High Court has reserved the order and as it was pending in the court, with the help of the Governor, the government declared 7 names. This is illegal and unconstitutional,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.
The plea over the 12 names recommended by the previous MVA government that did not receive the governor’s assent is pending in court.
The Mahayuti government announced the fresh names in a notification late Monday night after the governor’s approval. The leaders were sworn in at noon Tuesday, just hours before the Election Commission announced the election dates at 3.30 pm.
Of the seven names, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) proposed three, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) put forward two names each.
BJP proposed its women’s wing chief Chitra Wagh, Banjara community priest Babusing Rathod, and its youth-wing chief Vikrant Patil for nomination.
Former Sangli mayor Idris Naikwadi, a Muslim face of the party, along with its senior leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal’s son, Pankaj, was nominated to the upper house by the NCP (Ajit Pawar).
Shinde Sena proposed the names of its former Hingoli MP Hemant Patil and former MLC Manisha Kayande for nomination to the council.
Since the post of the Legislative Council chairman has been lying vacant since 7 July, 2022, following the retirement of Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe has been presiding over the proceedings when the legislature is in session.
Also Read: Sparks fly in Mumbai as Shinde, Uddhav spar over BJP, Hindutva & Adani during Dussehra bout
Political significance of the move
Ajit Pawar’s recommendation of a Muslim MLC is meant to emphasise to voters that the NCP’s ideology has not changed despite its alliance with the two Hindutva parties. Pankaj Bhujbal’s nomination is being seen as an effort to placate his father, Chhagan, who was miffed over not getting a ticket during the Lok Sabha elections.
Similarly, Shiv Sena (Shinde) is also trying to pacify Hingoli MP Patil who was denied a ticket during the general elections. On the other hand, the party appears to be rewarding Kayande for switching over from Shiv Sena (UBT) as spokesperson.
As far as the BJP is concerned, Rathod’s nomination holds significance in light of the party’s poor Lok Sabha performance in the Vidarbha region.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his one-day tour of Maharashtra, inaugurated the Banjara Virasat Museum in the Washim district. He also offered prayers at the Poharadevi temple and tributes at Sant Sevalal Maharaj’s samadhi (tomb). Modi even played the nangara, a traditional drum that holds a special place in Banjara culture.
Washim is located in the eastern region of Vidarbha, which has a total of 62 assembly seats. Since 2019, the BJP’s performance has worsened in the region and Congress has been trying to take its place. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, of the 10 seats in the region, the BJP only won two seats—Nagpur and Akola—down from nine seats in 2019.
The controversy in court
Till this development, the posts of 12 MLCs had remained vacant for more than 4 years.
On 6 November, 2020, the Uddhav Thackeray government sent a list of 12 candidates to then-Governor B.S. Koshyari.
It had given the names of actor Urmila Matondkar, Vijay Karanjkar, Nitin Bangude-Patil, and Chandrakant Raghuvanshi from the Shiv Sena; farmer leader Raju Shetti, former minister Eknath Khadse, Yashpal Bhinge, and folk singer Anand Shinde from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP); and Rajni Patil, Sachin Sawant, Anniruddha Vankar, and Muzaffar Hussain from the Congress
However, Koshyari neither approved nor rejected the nominations.
Then, a petition was filed in the High Court seeking directions to the governor to decide on the recommendation. The Bombay High Court, in August 2021, while hearing a petition filed by a Nashik resident had said that the governor has a “constitutional obligation” to either accept or reject “within reasonable time” the proposal sent by the state cabinet to nominate 12 persons as MLCs.
“Eight months had passed since the state cabinet sent the list of persons for nomination to the Upper House to governor Koshyari and this was “reasonable time”, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni had said at the time.
But nothing happened as the court did not give out a time frame to decide on the matter.
In 2022, when the MVA government fell and the Eknath Shinde-led government came to power, Shinde wrote to the governor seeking to withdraw the names of the MLCs proposed by the previous government.
Subsequently, in September 2022, Koshyari allowed the Mahayuti government to withdraw the list of 12 names and his office returned it to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
Sunil Modi, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader from Kolhapur, then filed a petition in the HC challenging Koshyari’s decision. He raised a grievance against the governor for refusing to act on nominations made to the legislative council for an inordinately long period of 1 year and 10 months.
Meanwhile, in February 2023, Koshyari stepped down from the top constitutional post in the state and Ramesh Bais took over as the new Governor of Maharashtra.
But Bais did not make a decision on the pending issue in view of ongoing litigation.
Last week, the Bombay HC reserved its order on Sunil Modi’s plea.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
Also Read: SC-OBC outreach to pay hike for madrasa teachers, Shinde cabinet has taken 146 decisions in 1 month