Oaths, trust vote unconstitutional, says Devendra Fadnavis

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — which lost after a bitter battle with its ally, the Shiv Sena — on Saturday cried foul saying the new coalition government was

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — which lost after a bitter battle with its ally, the Shiv Sena — on Saturday cried foul saying the new coalition government was violating the Constitution and state legislature norms.

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On the day of the trust vote in the state Assembly, leader of the BJP legislative party, Devendra Fadnavis, took an aggressive stand and raised a point of procedure over four issues to put a question mark on the formation of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government. He termed the swearing-in of Thackeray and his six ministers as “unconstitutional” as the oaths were taken by invoking names of leaders and personalities not included in the Constitutional format.

Sources said BJP MLA Mahesh Baldi has challenged the swearing-in ceremony and sought a reply from the Governor’s office over the issue. He also plans to move the court in two days.

Fadnavis also termed changing of the Pro-tem Speaker from Kalidas Kolambkar as approved by the Governor earlier, to Dilip Walse-Patil “unconstitutional”. “Once appointed, a Pro-tem Speaker continues until a regular Speaker is elected. There is no precedent in the country where a Pro-tem Speaker was changed like this. This is an insult of the Constitution,” said Fadnavis.

The other two issues raised by him refer to the way the Assembly session was called and the carrying out of the trust vote before holding the Speaker’s election by secret ballot. “The way this Assembly session was called itself is illegal and unconstitutional. On November 27, when the Assembly session was held, it started with Vande Mataram and ended with the national anthem. It means the session is adjourned. If the government has to call a new session, then the Governor must issue new summons. The message for the session was conveyed at 1am last night. It seems the intention was that all our members shouldn’t turn up today,” said Fadnavis.

However, the former chief minister was jeered at when he claimed that he goes “strictly by the rule book”. “No one is going to forget the overnight political stunt that Fadnavis tried to pull. It’s given him a bad name. So, it’s best if the BJP doesn’t oppose for the sake of opposition and claim a moral high ground when there is none,” said a Sena leader.

The BJP also staged a walk-out as the trust vote proposal was tabled, with party leaders pointing out that was the strategy. “Four of our MLAs didn’t turn up. We have anyway decided to sit in the Opposition. But, when we have the numbers, why should we meekly give up. We have set the tone of the Opposition with our aggressive attack,” said a senior BJP leader.

The BJP’s state unit chief, Chandrakant Patil, said that according to the “tradition and set norms”, the trust vote is to be held only after a Speaker is elected through a secret ballot. “But, this government is insisting on holding trust vote by a Pro-tem Speaker. They also changed the Pro-tem Speaker. Why are they insecure if they have support of 170 MLAs?” asked Patil, outside the assembly

The Pro-tem Speaker, Walse-Patil, however, ruled against all of Fadnavis’ arguments, pointing out that the trust vote was being carried out as per the guidelines of the recent Apex Court order. He also clarified that the change of the Pro-tem Speaker had been approved by the Governor. “The cabinet can decide who will be the Pro-tem Speaker. And, he can be changed every day with the Governor’s assent. The issue over the oath-taking ceremony is unfortunate because it smacks of a bias against Maharashtra’s heroes like Shivaji Maharaj, reformers like Shahu Maharaj and Jyotirao Phule,” said NCP MLA Jayant Patil.