The Bombay High Court on Monday kept in abeyance the Thane district collector’s orders recognising and de-recognising alliances in the Ambernath Municipal Council, PTI reported.
A bench comprising Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Abhay Mantri directed the collector to pass a reasoned order after hearing all the concerned parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party and the Eknath Shinde-led grouping of the Shiv Sena.
Commenting on the side-switching of four members of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in Ambernath, the court quipped that they were “globetrotting”, PTI reported.
After the municipal elections in Ambernath held on December 20, the local BJP unit had allied with the Congress to sideline the Shinde Sena, which is its coalition partner in the Maharashtra government. While the Shinde Sena had emerged as the single largest party in the Ambernath municipal council, no group could reach the halfway mark of 31 on its own.
The BJP won the post of the council chairperson through direct election, PTI reported.
Initially, 14 BJP members, 12 Congress members, four leaders from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and one Independent submitted a letter to the Thane collector seeking to be recognised as an alliance, The Indian Express reported. The coalition, the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi, was recognised as a pre-poll alliance by the collector on January 7.
However, after the alliance sparked criticism, the Congress suspended all its 12 elected members, while BJP leader and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed his party to break the alliance with the Congress.
On January 9, the four members of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP decided to support the Shinde Sena. The collector then recognised their tie-up as a pre-poll alliance and de-recognised the Ambernath Vikas Aghadi, which approached the High Court, according to The Indian Express.
The Ambernath Vikas Aghadi contended that the collector’s decision was illegal, as the coalition was to be considered as a pre-poll alliance for all purposes, including the appointment of subject committees.
During the hearing on Monday, Ghuge remarked: “Today, these four persons [NCP members] are with him [Eknath Shinde], yesterday they were with someone else. They are globe-trotting. What if tomorrow they go with someone else?”
The court directed all concerned parties to put forward their stands before the collector on January 28, and directed him to pass an order in the next 21 days, PTI reported. The collector’s orders will not take effect for two weeks, to enable the aggrieved parties to approach the court, the bench ordered.
“Until then, the collector's communications (orders) of January 7 and 9 shall be kept in abeyance,” the court was quoted as saying by PTI.
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