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His nomination stuck with Guv, Thackeray sends a distress message to PM
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari is yet to take a call on the state cabinet’s recommendation to nominate Thackeray to the legislative council.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss his nomination to the state legislative council which has been hanging fire, people aware of the development said.
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari is yet to take a call on the state cabinet’s recommendation to nominate Thackeray to the legislative council.
According to a person familiar with the development who requested anonymity, the Shiv Sena chief, in his conversation with Modi, referred to a possible constitutional crisis should the governor not accept the recommendation.
Thackeray urged the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter, noting that the country is battling the deadly Covid-19 pandemic and that Maharashtra is the state with the most number of positive cases of the disease.
A Shiv Sena leader said on the condition of anonymity that Thackeray apprised the Prime Minister of attempts allegedly being made to create political instability in Maharashtra through non-acceptance of the state cabinet’s recommendation that he be nominated to the legislative council.
Because Thackeray is not a member of the legislative council or the legislative assembly, the Maharashtra cabinet had recommended to Koshyari that he be nominated to one of the two vacant seats in the state’s upper house under the governor’s quota.
The law demands that a chief minister or a minister who is not a member of either of the two houses be elected within six months of being sworn in. Thackeray took the oath as the chief minister in November soon after his Shiv Sena broke away from the Bharatiya Janata Party and forrmed a post-poll alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress.The Shiv Sena and the BJP fell out because of differences over power sharing.
Commenting on the development, a senior BJP functionary said the governor had taken time to seek legal counsel on the recommendation.
“Section 151A of Representation of the People Act 1951 lists the rules for the governor’s discretionary power to nominate a person to the legislative council. Legally, election or nomination to vacant seats in the legislative council cannot be done if the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is less than one year,” he said.
The BJP functionary, who requested anonymity, declined to comment on Thackeray’s phone call to Prime Minister Modi.
