Amid a high drama unfolded in the State political circles over a “fake” letter about Raj Bhavan ordering trust vote in the State Assembly on June 30, a BJP delegation — led by leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis — urged Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday night to ask the “minority” Uddhav Government to prove its majority on the floor of the House.

The State BJP delegation met the Governor late in the night and delivered a letter to him, stating that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government has lost “majority” and seeking a confidence vote from the ruling dispensation, following the “exit” of 39 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs.

Talking to the media after meeting the Governor, Fadnavis said, “Both by way of email and by way of a letter that we submitted physically to the Governor,  we briefed him about the current political situation in the State. Shiv Sena’s 39 MLAs have come out of the parent Sena fold as they do not want Sena to continue its alliance with the Congress and the NCP. We therefore want the Governor to ask the MVA government to prove its majority on the floor of the House”.

“In this regard, we have referred to various rulings of the Supreme in matters relating to this kind of a situation. We expect the Governor to take an appropriate decision in our letter and give a proper direction to the government about proving majority on the floor of the House,” he said.

Significantly enough, Fadnavis’ visit to Raj Bhavan coincided with the circulation of a “fake” letter purportedly written by the Governor to the chief secretary of the Maharashtra ordering that a special session of the State Assembly be convened on  June 30, 2022 to allow Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to seek confidence vote on the floor of the lower house of the State legislature.

The operative part of the “fake” letter read thus: “....Taking into account all the relevant material, I am of the opinion that Shri. Uddhav Thackeray has lost the confidence of the majority on the floor of the house. Consequently, in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 174 r/w 175(2) of the Constitution of India I have, by a letter dated 29.06.2022 directed a special session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly to be convened on 30.06.2022 at 11:00 AM and directed Shri. Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority on the floor of the house”.

That it is a “fake” letter could be evidenced from the fact: that it is not on the Governor’s letter and that the letter which went into circulation is dated “29th June, 2022”.

Among other things, the letter quotes the Governor as writing: “I have carefully gone through the aforesaid letters dated 28.06.2022 and the material enclosed therewith. I have also been carefully observing the media coverage regarding the political scenario in the State of Maharashtra”.

It is not known yet if it is a draft of a letter ought to have been from the Governor to the chief secretary on“29th June, 2022”

However, Raj Bhavan swiftly distanced itself from the purported letter and said it was a “fake” letter.

By then, damage had been done, a national news agency had put out a flash saying that the Governor had ordered a trust vote on the floor of the Maharashtra Assembly.

Who is behind this “fake” letter is a moot question.