Show support now or prove it later: What will Maharashtra Guv pick for Sena?

Koshyari will have to recommend President’s rule in the state if Sena or any other party fails to garner the support of 145 MLAs to prove majority. For govt formation Show support now or prove it later: Guv’s 2 options

After Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conveyed its inability to form the government on Sunday, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has invited the second largest party, Shiv Sena, to come forward. It now remains to be seen if Koshyari asks Sena to prove the support of legislators — by producing letters from them — before giving it the opportunity to form the government, or if he allows the party to prove its majority during the floor test.

Sena has been asked to respond to the Governor’s invitation by Monday (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

Koshyari will have to recommend President’s rule in the state if Sena or any other party fails to garner the support of 145 MLAs to prove majority.

Sena has been asked to respond to the Governor’s invitation by Monday. The party will have to gather support from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress. In the 288-member Assembly, Sena has 56 seats, while NCP and Congress have 54 and 44 seats respectively.

Constitutional experts said Article 164 of the Constitution has given discretionary powers to the Governor to appoint the chief minister (CM) and to take the call over asking a party to show proof of the support it has. “He may ask for the letter of support from all the legislators backing Sena. In the current situation, as the three parties coming together have fewer numbers, the Governor is likely to ask for letters of support beforehand. But, it is the Governor’s discretion. Former president KR Narayanan had asked Atal Bihari Vajpayee to submit letters of support two decades ago,” said Ulhas Bapat, a constitutional expert.

Former advocate general Shreehari Aney also said the Governor may ask Sena to show proof of the number of the legislators supporting it.

“However, there are other ways of proving the majority on the floor of the house. If one of the remaining three parties is absent during the floor test, the number required [145] falls, making it easier to pass the test. As the first option before the Governor — to invite BJP — to prove its majority has been exhausted, the Governor may give Sena the benefit of proving its majority on the floor,” he said.

Experts also feel that Sena is unlikely to get more days to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly as two weeks have already passed since the results were declared. “In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court had given just two days to BJP to prove its majority in Karnataka. Sena, too, is expected to get very few days for the floor test,” Bapat said.

If the Sena-led alliance of two or three parties fails to prove its majority, the Governor will have no other option, but to recommend President’s rule, stating that the constitutional machinery in the state has failed.

The President’s rule has to be ratified by the Parliament in two months, after which it can be extended till six months, and again for six more months if elections are not possible within that period.

The rule, however, can be withdrawn if any party or alliance approaches the Governor and convinces him that it has the numbers to form the government.