A resident of Mumbai on Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking an order to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to refrain from inviting the “unholy alliance” of the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party to form the government, NDTV reported.
The petitioner, Surendra Indrabahadur Singh, said the alliance, if it comes into being, will be a betrayal of the mandate of the people of Maharashtra. “The parties that are now forming an alliance in Maharashtra had fought against each other in the Assembly elections,” Singh said in his public interest litigation. “If they form the government, it will amount to betraying the mandate of the people, and a government formed against the mandate of the people must be declared unconstitutional.”
This is the second petition filed in the Supreme Court seeking an order to prevent the Shiv Sena-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government coming to power. Another petition had been filed a week ago.
“The act of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress is unethical and contrary to the constitutional scheme for staking claim to form government without the legitimate alliance of political parties, which is far from the concept of popular government,” the previous petition, filed by a person called Pramod Pandit Joshi, said.
The political situation in Maharashtra
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena had fought the Maharashtra Assembly elections, held on October 21 together. The BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party 54 seats, and the Congress 44 seats.
However, the BJP and the Shiv Sena fell out after the Sena insisted that BJP National President Amit Shah had promised it the chief minister’s post for 2.5 years, as well as 50% of the portfolios in the Maharashtra Cabinet. The BJP refused to admit the claim or accede to the demand.
Following this, the BJP told the governor that it did not have the numbers to form the government. Subsequently, Koshyari invited the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party. But the Centre advised Koshyari to impose President’s Rule in Maharashtra, which he did on November 12.
The Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party subsequently began negotiations for an alternative government. On Friday, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray met all party MLAs, who urged him to take the chief minister’s post. Congress leader Manikrao Thakare also declared that the chief minister would come from the Shiv Sena. The three parties are currently meeting in Mumbai. The alliance has been tentatively named the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
On Thursday, reports said that the Congress Working Committee had given in-principle approval to forming an alliance with the Shiv Sena. Thackeray had met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on the same day.
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