In a press conference, former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying the apex court verdict has exposed its face. Thackeray also said that the slandering of Maharashtra has to be stopped. Terming the Shinde-Fadnavis government illegal, Thackeray said that they should face the election and let the people decide.
With the SC order allowing CM Eknath Shinde to continue, there is a possibility that the government may expand its cabinet before the monsoon session of the state legislature on July 17. In August 2022, then-governor BS Koshyari administered the oath to 18 MLAs (nine each from the Shinde camp and the BJP). All 18 were cabinet ministers, and no ministers of state (MoS) were sworn-in.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Sunil Shinde said, “Earlier, it was stated by the court that the system was not correctly implemented and the governor was misusing his power in the state, due to which the rift has occurred in the political parties. Though the speaker has appointed some decisions, if they have wrong political intentions favoring the ruling party, then it would be difficult for us to challenge them”.
Devendra Fadnavis said, “This is a victory for democracy and the democratic process. We are satisfied with the verdict given by the Supreme Court. Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) “conspiracy” has been defeated. The present government is completely legal.
While the ruling coalition of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court ruling on Maharashtra’s political crisis as a “victory” for democracy, the rival Uddhav Thackeray camp slammed the government as unconstitutional and immoral. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the then-titular head of the richest state acted as per the situation at the time.
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar welcomed the Supreme Court verdict and said it is a ‘meritorious’ judgment and is not about the political situation in the state.
UBT Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut told Afternoon Voice, “Our party knows that Uddhav Thackeray is a good candidate for the Chief Minister, but we did not demand that he be again appointed as CM. Instead, we were only asking for a reasonable time frame to be given for the MLAs who were disqualified, but the court has given its verdict.”
Samadhan Sarvankar of the Shiv Sena said, “The Supreme Court has given its decision regarding the Shiv Sena, and the present speaker will be taking its decisions”.
“Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde should resign from his post to see how many people are with his party and also follow the procedure of the floor test,” Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Vaibhav Naik said.
“We challenge the UBT Shiv Sena faction for the upcoming elections and will conduct a floor test because the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance received the most votes.” “The other faction only complains about everything, and if they were correct, why are so many people leaving the Uddhav faction and joining the Shinde faction?” said Krishna Hegde, spokesperson for the Shinde faction.
“There are statements that Uddhav Thackeray resigned before the floor test, but many MLAs moved to the Eknath Shinde faction, and this situation had left him no option but to resign, and we can’t expect Rahul Narvekar (the speaker of the house) to give an unbiased decision, and if he supports justice, then it would be suicidal for him as the decision would be against the ruling government”, said former NCP MP Majeed Memon.
NCP Spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, “If the chief whip’s orders were just unlawful, then how come his directives will be legal? Normally, decisions are made by the party, not the whip, and if the court rules that the speaker’s decision was illegal, how can others regard it as correct?”
“The decision of the Supreme Court is still in our favor because it said the governor had misused the power and the 16 MLA disqualification process, and the decision of the speaker is incorrect, as it says on the court material,” Shiv Sena (UBT) Vilas Potnis said.
