The Centre must produce the letters of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claiming majority and that of the Governor inviting to form a government, the Supreme Court said today. In an extraordinary hearing on Sunday, a three-judge bench also issued a notice to Mr Fadnavis, his deputy Ajit Pawar, the state and the Central government. The Centre has to produce the letters in court by 10.30 am tomorrow. The order has bypassed the Shiv Sena, Congress and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party's demand that the BJP be asked to take a test of strength on the floor of the Maharashtra assembly within 24 hours, as happened in Karnataka.
The BJP on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Maharashtra, with some deft political maneuvering that saw Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar changing sides. The Shiv Sena, Congress and Ajit Pawar's uncle and Nationalist Congress chief Sharad Pawar busy cobbling up an alliance, appeared shell-shocked as the country woke to the news that Devendra Fadnavis has taken oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister with Ajit Pawar - whom he repeatedly accused of corruption - as his deputy. What followed were hectic meetings and claim from Sharad Pawar that his nephew acted on his own, misled the Governor and doesn't have the numbers. A number of MLAs who attended the oath ceremony, turned up at the NCP office soon after, indicating that the party chief was right.