Koshyari erred by calling floor test: SC; Pawar, Thackeray slam former governor

The former governor’s role has been in question ever since the MVA government came to power. He was accused of stalling fresh elections to the speaker’s post after Congress leader Nana Patole stepped down to take over as Maharashtra Congress chief.

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court (SC) verdict on the political crisis has brought former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari back in discussion. Koshyari was Maharashtra governor when the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was in turmoil last year, following a split in Shiv Sena.

Mumbai, India - June 30, 2022: Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde takes oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra while BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the presence of the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

On Thursday, SC held that Koshyari had no objective material to doubt the confidence of the MVA government and call for a floor test. The apex court also remarked that the same cannot be used to resolve internal party disputes.

The former governor’s role has been in question ever since the MVA government came to power. He was accused of stalling fresh elections to the speaker’s post after Congress leader Nana Patole stepped down to take over as Maharashtra Congress chief. Koshyari did not permit the erstwhile MVA government to elect a new speaker on grounds that he wished to study the amendment in the rules passed by the state government for the speaker’s election by allowing open voting instead of a secret ballot. The ruling combine made the amendment to keep cross-voting by its MLAs as bay.

The Thackeray-led government had frequent run-ins with Koshyari. The latter did not allow an election for the legislative council as Thackeray had to get elected to the legislature within six months, after being appointed as CM. Thackeray then had to petition Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the same. Koshyari was also at the centre of skirmishes with the government over restrictions on visits to temples during the pandemic and demolition of parts of actress Kangana Ranaut’s office, which was declared illegal by the civic body.

Earlier, the former governor had recommended that president’s rule be lifted overnight, following which Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the CM and Ajit Pawar as his deputy on November 23, 2019. At the time, MVA was in the process of being formed. However, the government could not last for more than three days after the SC had ordered a floor test.

Pawar, Thackeray speak up

Both the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed Koshyari, following the SC verdict for his role in the split. The former governor however said that the apex court has proved that his decision on Thackeray’s resignation and giving oath to Eknath Shinde as the chief minister was not erroneous.

Pawar said Koshyari had brought disrepute to the governor’s position. “We would have demanded his removal but now he is not here. He has done all the damage he could to Maharashtra. He will be remembered in the state’s history for ignoring all democratic norms while functioning,” said the NCP chief.

Thackeray demanded action against the former governor, as “it will become a tradition of people continuing to take such decisions and by the time the matter comes up in court, they are out of office or already retired”.

“My decision was not wrong. Thackeray resigned, as he had no majority. Even SC could not overturn it,” said Koshyari in response to the verdict. He was relieved from the governor’s position in February this year.

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The SC verdict

Both the constitution and law do not empower the governor to enter the political arena and play a role either in inter-party or intra-party disputes. Nothing in any of the communications relied on by the governor indicated that the dissatisfied MLAs wanted to withdraw support to the government. The governor erred in relying on the resolution of a faction of MLAs of Shiv Sena to conclude that Thackeray had lost support of the majority of MLAs. The exercise of discretion by the governor was not in accordance with the constitution.