Maha verdict: 'Doesn't suit...' - Fadnavis' jibe on Uddhav Thackeray's 'morality' plea
A five-judge Constitution bench held that the House speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the whip of Shiv Sena was "illegal".
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP on Thursday said he was satisfied by the Supreme Court's verdict refusing to reinstate the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray and called it a victory of democracy and the democratic process. Fadnavis asserted that the apex court's judgment held the Shiv Sena-BJP government legal and constitutional even as the five-judge Constitution bench pulled up then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for calling a trust vote and held the Speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the whip of Shiv Sena “illegal”.
“Today, Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) conspiracy has been defeated. Now, no one should doubt that the Maharashtra government is completely legal,” said Fadnavis.
Earlier today, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said that Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Fadnavis should resign on moral grounds like he did last year.
“Chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should resign on moral grounds like I did,” Thackeray told a news conference shortly after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in last year’s Shiv Sena-centric political crisis in the state.
Responding to Thackeray's demand, the deputy CM said he has no right to speak about morality as Sena won the assembly elections in alliance with BJP but then went with Congress.
“It doesn't suit Uddhav Thackeray to talk about morality. I want to ask him if had he forgotten his morals when he went with NCP and Congress for the CM post. He had not resigned on moral grounds but due to fear after those who were with him left him,” Fadnavis said.
Shinde hailed the judgment as a victory of truth and said the Speaker will decide on the merit of the disqualification petition submitted by both camps. The chief minister said the Uddhav camp had previously asserted that his government was unlawful and against the constitution, solely for their own satisfaction. He emphasized that the Supreme Court has now dispelled any doubts that were being propagated. He also claimed that Uddhav Thackeray decided to resign as chief minister after realising he lacked sufficient support from his followers.
