NCP leader Ajit Pawar claimed that Maharashtra government won't fall even if 16 MLAs are disqualified.
Soon after a delegation of the Shiv Sena (UBT) handed over a 79-page letter to the Maharashtra Deputy Speaker seeking expedited action in the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the Shinde camp, NCP leader Ajit Pawar made it clear that the action would not actually topple the government.
"Even if 16 MLAs are disqualified, the government of Shinde and Fadnavis will not fall. There is no threat to the government," he said on Monday while addressing a press conference here in Mumbai.
Attaching an argument to his opinion, he said that in a 288-member assembly, the government will not lose its majority mark, even if 16 MLAs are disqualified.
Notably, a delegation of the Shiv Sena (UBT) handed over a letter seeking expedited action in the disqualification of 16 Shinde camp MLAs following the Supreme Court's recent verdict during their meeting with Maharashtra's deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal and Assembly secretary Jitendra Bhole.
The Whip of Shiv Sena (UBT), Sunil Prabhu, said that the UBT Sena's delegation submitted a letter to the Speaker following the apex court's order that ruled that the Speaker can adjudicate the disqualification of the 16 Shinde camp MLAs.
"Since the Speaker is yet to return from his foreign tour, we submitted the letter to his deputy," Prabhu said.
The ruling coalition of Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently has 145 MLAs while the overall coalition has162 MLAs, 17 more than the required number to form government in Maharashtra.
The Supreme Court's verdict has given fresh impetus to the Shiv Sena crisis, with former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray calling for an early decision on the disqualification of 16 party MLAs.
The top court also pulled up then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and said he did not have reasons based on objective material before him to reach the conclusion that then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had lost the confidence of the House. The court said that relief was due for Thackeray if he had not resigned before facing the floor test.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)