The Supreme Court 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 the Shiv Sena.
On Thursday, the top court 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 floor tests 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 at bay.
The government sought to hold the speaker’s election on December 28, 2021, at the winter session in Nagpur. Uddhav Thackeray then wrote three letters to Koshyari, but the latter did not grant permission. On the other hand, the former governor gave the go-ahead within days of the Shinde-Fadnavis government assuming power. The absence of a speaker turned out to be a handicap for the ruling coalition in the initial stage of the political crisis.
{{/usCountry}}The government sought to hold the speaker’s election on December 28, 2021, at the winter session in Nagpur. Uddhav Thackeray then wrote three letters to Koshyari, but the latter did not grant permission. On the other hand, the former governor gave the go-ahead within days of the Shinde-Fadnavis government assuming power. The absence of a speaker turned out to be a handicap for the ruling coalition in the initial stage of the political crisis.
{{/usCountry}}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, leading to Thackeray petitioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 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 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, the MVA was still 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 NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed Koshyari following the Supreme Court 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 resigned from the governor’s position in February this year.