New Delhi/Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday petitioned the Supreme Court challenging Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari’s “unconstitutional, arbitrary, illegal” decision not to grant it three days’ time to produce letters from the NCP and the Congress in support of its claim to form the government even though he had given its erstwhile alliance partner, the BJP, two days to prove its numbers.
But on a day of fast moving events, even as the Shiv Sena moved the top court questioning the governor’s decision, Koshiyari had already recommended to the Centre that the state be placed under President’s rule.
Senior lawyers engaged with the Shiv Sena matter are working on a petition to challenge the imposition of President’s rule in Maharashtra and the conduct of the governor in the entire exercise of government formation leading to President’s rule.
One of Shiv Sena’s lawyers, Nizam Pasha, said that they will request the court for an urgent hearing on Wednesday.
At a news briefing in Mumbai, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray called the governor “most kindhearted” and mockingly added, “Government formation in Maharashtra is not child’s play. For this we needed a 48-hour deadline to prove our majority. Instead, the kind-hearted governor gave us six months for this”.
Even after failing to muster the numbers to form the government in Maharashtra, Thackeray continued to harbour hopes of a miracle.
He said that the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress may have different ideologies but they “will find a way to work together”
“We will do the unthinkable,” he said, and added that the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the Congress will sit together and decide a “common minimum programme” before taking the next step.
