Amid the coronavirus upsurge in Maharashtra, a major political controversy broke out on Sunday, as the ruling Shiv Sena launched a sharp attack against Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for his “failure” to act on the State Cabinet’s recommendation to nominate Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as a member of the State Legislative Council by saying “Raj Bhavan should not become centre for political conspiracy”.
In normal course, the Governor has to go by the recommendation of the State Cabinet without any undue delay. Kohsyari’s failure to nominate Uddhav has surprised many in the State political circles and that too at a time when the State is passing through a coronavirus crisis.
The Governor has given no indication that he would go by the recommendation made by the State Cabinet on April 9 to nominate Uddhav as a Member of Legislative Council from one of the two vacant slots.
Uddhav took up the reins as the Chief Minister on November 28, 2019 and needs to become a member of the either House, Assembly or Council, before six months, May 27, as prescribed under Article 164 (4).
If Uddhav fails to get the nomination, he will have to resign from his post. In that scenario, it will be up to the Governor to invite Uddhav to take oath as the Chief Minister once again. Once Uddhav is sworn into the office as the Chief Minister, he will have another six months to get elected to either of the Houses. Subsequently, Uddhav’s other Ministers will have to be once again administered oath of office by the Governor. If anything, he will be at the mercy of the Governor.
More than anything else, the Government re-formation exercise — which will take at least three to four days — will affect the MVA Government’s ongoing efforts to combat coranavirus situation in the State. An angry Shiv Sena spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut lashed out at Koshyari through two tweets — one in Marathi and another in English.
In a tweet that he put out first in Marathi, Raut said, “Raj Bhavans should not become dirty den for politics. I am suddenly reminded of a ‘shameless’ late Andhra Pradesh Governor Ramlal. This clue is enough for those who can understand”.
In another tweet that he put in English, Raut said, “Raj Bhavan, Governor’s House shouldn’t become center for political conspiracy. Remember! History doesn’t spare those who behave unconstitutionally.”
The reference to late T Ramlal should be seen in the context of the fact when, as he as the Governor of then united Andhra Pradesh had appointed N Bhaskar Rao as the Chief Minister when the incumbent Chief Minister NT Rama Rao was away in the United States for a surgery in a much-discussed coup political carried out with the support of the Governor and the then Congress Government at the Centre in August 1984. His reign as the Chief Minister had lasted for mere 31 days.
Uddhav, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister on November 28 last year, is not a member of either of the Houses of the State Legislature. As provided under the Constitution, Uddhav will in the normal course have to get elected to either of the Houses on or before May 28, the six-month deadline for his becoming a member of either of the Houses.
It may be recalled that on April 9, at a meeting presided over by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the State Cabinet had decided to recommend to Koshyari to nominate Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as a Member of Legislative Council, from one of the two vacant slots.
In the normal course, the Election Commission was to hold the elections to fill the posts of nine MLCs, who will be retiring on April 24 from Upper House, and Uddhav was to contest these elections. However, the EC has postponed these elections in view of the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.
The Shiv Sena-led MVA had recommended to the Governor to nominate Uddhav from the slot vacated by Rahul Narvekar, who quit the Sharad Pawar-led party and got elected from Colaba constituency to the State Assembly in the October 2019 elections. It was one of the vacant Governor-nominee slots, the other being the vacancy caused by the resignation of NCP MLC Ram Wadkule. The Governor had not allowed the NCP earlier to fill up these vacant posts for more than four months.