Congress Hails Supreme Court Verdict On Maharashtra Political Row

The Congress on Thursday described the Supreme Court's verdict on the Maharashtra political row as a victory for the state and the Constitution.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said all 300 petitions related to the disqualification of MLAs from Maharashtra must be decided expeditiously.

"All substantive findings in our favour. Governor's decision held based on irrelevant considerations. Speaker's recognition is of a wrong whip. Whip is of political party not legislative. DQ petitions must be decided expeditiously. It's a victory for Maha and the Constitution," Mr Singhvi wrote on Twitter.

He also hailed the top court's verdict that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administration of services except for public order, police and land as a big victory for democracy.

"Delhi government is accountable for people of Delhi who elected them in a democracy. Appreciate the emphasis of the Supreme Court on the exclusions (only public order, police and land). A big win for democracy," the Congress leader said in another tweet.

Eknath Shinde will continue as the chief minister of Maharashtra, with the Supreme Court holding on Thursday that it cannot restore the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray as the former chief minister resigned without facing a floor test in June last year.

The court also pulled up then Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and said he did not have reasons based on objective material placed before him to arrive at the conclusion that then chief minister Thackeray had lost the confidence of the Assembly.

In a unanimous verdict on a batch of pleas related to the political crisis that led to the fall of the three-party MVA government led by Mr Thackeray following a revolt by the Eknath Shinde faction in the Shiv Sena, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud held that the then speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Eknath Shinde faction as the whip of the Shiv Sena was illegal.

It, however, said since Mr Thackeray had resigned without facing the floor test, the governor was justified in inviting Shinde to form the government at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was the largest political party in the House.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)