Floor of House only real test: SC
Three-party alliance will take oath on November 28, Uddhav says never dreamt of leading state
NEWDELHI: An immediate floor test is crucial to protect democratic values when there are fears of “horse trading”, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday as it brought forward a two-week deadline to 24 hours for a confidence motion to be conducted in the Maharashtra assembly — a ruling that was followed by the resignation of BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis who said that he did not have the numbers to prove majority.
The ruling was the sixth time in two decades that the country’s top court ordered for a chief minister of a state to prove his majority within 24 hours.
“In a situation wherein, if the floor test is delayed, there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the court to act to protect democratic values,’’ said a bench of justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna. Cited a 1994 ninejudge SC bench’s decision, it said wherever “a doubt arises whether the Council of Ministers has lost the confidence of the House, the only way of testing it is on the floor of the House”.
MUMBAI: A new chapter was heralded in Maharashtra on Tuesday evening as two opposite poles of state politics – the Shiv Sena and the Congress-nationalist Congress Party – came together to form a new alliance and stake claim to power.
The three-party coalition will be sworn in on November 28 at a grand ceremony in Shivaji Park, capping more than a month of political uncertainty in Maharashtra and making 59-year-old Uddhav Thackeray the first from the family to become chief minister.
In his short speech, Thackeray thanked NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi for supporting his bid for chief ministership, the same personalities he would criticise in almost every public rally until even a month ago.
“I accept the responsibility given by all of you. I’m not alone but you all are CM with me. What has happened today is the actual democracy. Together we will wipe off the tears of farmers in the state,” Thackeray said.
Addressing the joint meeting of Sena, Congress and NCP MLAS, Pawar remembered Sena founder Bal Thackeray. “It would have been great had Balasaheb Thackeray been alive today. We shared great love. We criticised each other a lot, but we never let go off the personal warmth,” he said.
Explaining why the Sena chief was chosen as CM, Pawar said, “This is a new era of politics. We wanted someone who will do justice to all the regions of Maharashtra and establish its premier position. When we sat down to discuss, we reached the conclusion that Uddhav was the right man for the job,” said Pawar.
Tuesday’s developments came roughly a day after an unprecedented show of strength that also saw leaders of the three parties sitting together in the front row with “We are 162” banners visible in the background. The alliance claims the support of 162 MLAS, well above the majority mark of 145 in the 288member assembly.
“We don’t stake claim in the dark hours of night. We do it in front of everyone because we have a clean heart,” said state Congress president Balasaheb Thorat.
NCP Maharashtra chief Jayant Patil proposed the name of Thackeray to head the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi and take over as the chief minister of Maharashtra. Senior Congress legislator Balasaheb Thorat seconded the proposal.
Thackeray also took the opportunity to criticise former ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who resigned on Tuesday afternoon after it became clear that his administration didn’t have a majority.
After Thackeray was unanimously selected the alliance chief, a delegation under legislative party leaders, Balasaheb Thorat, Eknath Shinde and Jayant Patil, went to Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form the government.