Dy CM targets Governor over delay in Legislative Council nominations

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar yet again targeted Governor BS Koshyari for not clearing the nomination of the 12 names recommended by the state cabinet from his quota in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

The state cabinet, on October 30 last year, had authorised Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to recommend 12 names to the legislative council. The names were subsequently sent to Koshyari for nomination. Thereafter, the government had sent reminders. However, the governor is still sitting on it. Shiv Sena Member of the Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut, in an editorial in Saamna, had compared the delaying tactics to the ‘suppression of democracy during the Emergency’. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, too, have questioned the delay.

“The governor should not further delay the nomination of the 12 names to the upper house. The proposal has been signed by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. We will soon take his appointment and discuss the issue,” said Pawar. Maha Vikas Aghadi insiders have held the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responsible for the delay, saying that the governor will continue to take his own time, as it had happened in Uttar Pradesh in the past where the governor cleared names suggested by the Akhilesh Yadav government after two years.

Pawar denied the media reports with regard to Congress getting the deputy chief minister’s post. “There is no such thing as another Deputy Chief Minister. There is no question of having two Deputy Chief Ministers in the state. A common minimum programme had been finalised by the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners at the time of government formation and there has been no change in it,” he clarified.

On the resignation by Nana Patole as the speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Pawar said he was not upset. “It would have been better had Patole resigned after the ensuing budget session of the state legislature slated to begin on March 1. The CM and Patole had discussed the issue,” he noted.

On farmers’ protest, Pawar said why celebrities were mum for almost three months. He further stated that the central government should accept the farmers’ demand at the earliest. On soaring auto fuel prices, Pawar said Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis should tell the BJP-led government at the Centre to reduce the prices instead of asking the state government to cut taxes.