Caravan News
MUMBAI — After Maharashtra Assembly election and subsequent process of claiming stake and forming government has shown many lows of Indian politics. Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP could manage to install ‘minority’ government even as the new alliance was preparing to stake the claim to form the government.
The BJP party took hectic and quick steps to win a call from the state governor in the dead of the night and succeeded in installing its government with Ajit Pawar in support. Though the move of the BJP and the process the state Governor followed has been challenged in the apex court of India, the court is expected to deliver its judgement on Tuesday morning.
Assured of its strength the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress combine, the new alliance, has staked it claim to form the government with a comfortable strength of MLAs on their side.
In an unprecedented action in Indian politics, the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress combine on Monday organised a public parade of their 162 supporting MLAs in a bid to disprove the claims of 170 legislators made by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Ajit Pawar.
The parade, at a five-star hotel here, came barely 12 hours before the scheduled hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning on the parties’ challenge to the new government sworn-in early Saturday morning with Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM, creating a political upheaval in the state.
The 162 MLAs also administered a “oath of allegiance” hours after the three parties staked claim to power, reports NDTV.
“I will not fall prey to any offer. I will not help the BJP in anyway. I will not indulge in any anti-party activities,” the MLAs repeated, with a palm-out salute as they pledged not to betray their parties.
Besides the enthusiastic 162 MLAs of the three ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ partners, top leaders of all three parties like Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, Praful Patel, Nawab Malik, and Jitendra Awhad (all Nationalist Congress Party), Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray, Eknath Shinde, and Sanjay Raut (all Shiv Sena), Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan and Mallikarjuna Kharge (Congress) and others were present.
Sharad Pawar reiterated that all NCP MLAs were with him. “162 MLAs are here, we have a majority,” he said.
Abu Asim Azmi of the Samajwadi Party was also at the parade.
This public parade, including a joint photo-session, comes a day after the top leaders of the three parties address ‘cross-meetings’ of the legislators of each other’s parties, again a unique development in politics.
The Sena, NCP and Congress have petitioned the Supreme Court against the Governor’s invite to the BJP and have asked for a trust vote at the earliest. The court will announce its decision on Tuesday.—With inputs from IANS
