Sena rebels to go to court if Dy Speaker disqualifies 12 MLAs
Having lobbed the ball into Maharashtra’s Deputy Speaker Narhari Sitaram Zirwal’s court in their own tactful ways, the Eknath Shinde camp and the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents on Friday prepared themselves to play an active part in the procedural tangles that will unfold in the run-up to the confidence vote that the Uddhav dispensation may seek sometime next week.
Deputy Speaker Zhirwal, who has been acting as the Assembly Speaker since February 2021 in the absence of a full-fledged Speaker, will have a tough task in hand in dealing with the claims and counter-claims to be made by the Shinde camp and the MVA Government.
Given the complex nature of the emerging situation and the ramifications of the anti-defection law that will come into play in the coming days, the matters relating to the possible disqualifications of MLAs may land in courts, leading to the delay in the resolution of the current political crisis in Maharashtra.
Taking the first step, Deputy Speaker Narhari recognised the decision taken by the parent Shiv Sena Legislature Party (SSLP) on June 21 sacking the rebel Sena leader and Minister Shinde as the Sena group leader in the State Assembly and replacing him with its senior party functionary Ajay Choudhury.
The recognition of the parent Sena leadership’s decision to appoint Choudhary as the new SSLP leader in place of Shinde means that the Deputy Speaker has a strong reason to believe that the parent has enough numbers to act in a manner it has done.
The chair’s ruling allowing the appointment of Choudhary as the new SSLP leader has ticked off the rebel Shinde camp, which is preparing to challenge the deputy speaker’s order in the Bombay High Court on Saturday morning.
On its part, the rebel Sena camp on Thursday submitted a fresh letter to the Deputy Speaker that 37 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs camping in Guwahati (which is more than the requisite two-third strength i.e, 36 MLAs out of total 55 Sena MLAs in the State Assembly) reaffirming that Shinde would continue as the Sena group leader in the State Assembly. Till Friday evening, the Deputy Speaker had not accepted the claim that the Shinde camp enjoyed the support of 37 Sena MLAs.
If the Deputy Speaker accepts the rebel Sena camp’s claim that Shinde enjoys the support of 37 out of the total 55 Sena MLAs in the Assembly and declares him as the Sena legislature party leader, the parent party will be as good as over. Because, the Shinde faction — if it has two-thirds of the parent party’s strength in the Assembly — can merge with another party or become a separate group in the House without attracting penal provisions of the anti-defection law.
On the other hand, the parent Sena party is hoping against hope that the Deputy Speaker will disqualify 12 MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, for allegedly violating the party whip, based on a written request made to that effect by the parent Sena’s new SSLP leader Ajay Choudhury on Thursday.
If the Deputy Speaker disqualifies 12 Sena rebel MLAs, including Shinde, the development will result in the rebel Sena camp – the strength of which will be reduced to 25 MLAs against the earlier 37 MLAs –attracting action under the anti-defection law.
If such development takes place, the 12 disqualified Sena rebel MLAs will not be able to take part in the confidence vote to be sought by the Thackeray dispensation. It remains to be seen if the remaining 25 Sena rebel MLAs will vote against the confidence vote and if yes, whether they will face action under the anti-defection law.
Till the confidence vote is over, the Deputy Speaker will deal with all matters relating to the strength of the ruling MVA — comprising Shiv Sena (55) NCP (53), and Congress (44) — that had collective strength of 152 MLAs on paper till the Shinde-led rebellion rocked the Shiv Sena on June 21. However, after the confidence vote is decided, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will take control of the situation.
Governor Koshyari, who was admitted to the Reliance Foundation Hospital on Wednesday after he tested positive for Covid-19, will remain in hospital for some more days.
It remains to be seen if Koshyari, despite being in hospital, will intervene in matters which come under the domain of the Deputy Speaker.
Meanwhile, all the three MVA constituents – Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress – are rooting for Uddhav Thackeray seeking a confidence vote on the floor of the Assembly.
On Thursday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar – who is the architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government, said that the floor test was the only way to resolve the current political crisis. He expressed optimism that the MVA dispensation would survive the current crisis facing the Shiv Sena. “Let the MLAs come back from Guwahati. The situation will change drastically. The MVA Government will survive the floor test in the State Assembly,” Pawar said.
