Shiv Sena, NCP, Congress Petition On Maharashtra In Supreme Court Today

Shiv Sena has pointed out the Governor was "duty bound" to study the claim of Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: The Supreme Court will shortly hear a petition filed by the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party against yesterday's extraordinary government formation in Maharashtra. The BJP had made a stunning comeback, with some deft political manoeuvring that saw Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar changing sides overnight. The Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, prospective allies who approached the top court, said they woke to the news that Devendra Fadnavis has taken oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister with Mr Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar as his deputy. Sharad Pawar said 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.

Here are the ten points on Shiv Sena's move in Maharashtra:

A three-judge bench of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna will hear the petition, whihc said the Governor was "duty bound" to study the claim of Mr Fadnavis, especially when the Sena, NCP and the Congress which have 154 MLAs together, said they would stake claim to form the government.
The political twists of Saturday had started with President's Rule in Maharashtra being called off at 5.47 am with a sign-off from President Ram Nath Kovind. It was followed by the oath ceremony at 7.50 am - attended by a handful of NCP members, some of whom later claimed that they were tricked into attending the ceremony.
While imposition and revocation of President's Rule has to be cleared by the Union Cabinet, the BJP said it was bypassed through a particular rule in the Allocation of Business Rules 1961. Under it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vested with special powers, had given the green signal.
At a press conference on Saturday morning, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray by his side, denied that he was aware of Ajit Pawar's intended shift. He also paraded three MLAs before the media. The MLAs said they ended up at the Governor's residence by a ruse from Ajit Pawar. Some of the "rebel" MLAs were flown to Delhi by the BJP, a fraction of whom were said to return late Saturday evening.
The Sena has claimed that Ajit Pawar, who has several corruption cases against him, was arm-twisted into supporting the BJP. "They misled the governor and took 10 MLAs with them. Five of those came back and Ajit Pawar will also come back," said Sena leader Sanjay Raut. An NCP meeting on Saturday evening was attended by 50 of the 54 MLAs. The BJP claims it has the support of all 54 NCP MLAs.
"Maharashtra needed a stable government, not a khichidi shaasan (mishmash government)," Devendra Fadnavis said after the oath ceremony. Ajit Pawar said, "We decided to form a stable government" as no party has been able to form government and Maharashtra was facing many issues, including farmer issues.
Last week, Sharad Pawar had met PM Modi, ostensibly over the farm crisis in Maharashtra, but the 45-minute meeting had caused a huge buzz. So had PM Modi's unusual shout-out to the NCP for its conduct during a discussion in parliament on Monday.
The NCP and the ideologically disparate Sena and the Congress, had ironed out most of the niggles, including having Uddhav Thackeray as the Chief Minister for five years. A decision on the Speaker was pending and there were plans to hold further talks on Saturday . "A resolution was passed unanimously that party does not endorse Ajit Pawar's decision and he has been removed as NCP legislative party leader," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik told reporters.
Amid the delay, BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav, a close aide of Amit Shah, was dispatched to Mumbai. Away from the media spotlight, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar reached an agreement a little before midnight, after which the official machinery started moving, sources said.
The BJP and the Shiv Sena, partners for over 30 years, fell out despite winning a majority together in the last month's elections, with the Sena insistent on its "50:50" power-sharing demand, including rotational chief ministership. But with the BJP refusing to agree, the Sena gravitated towards the NCP and the Congress.