The Supreme Court hearing on the competing petitions filed by the Shiv Sena factions has nothing to do with the delay in the expansion of the Eknath Shinde Ministry in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
After the court posted the hearing on the petitions filed by the Uddhav Thackeray and Shinde factions to August 1, both leaders expressed satisfaction with the legal proceedings.
Asked about the delay in appointing new Ministers, Mr. Fadnavis said the Ministry would be expanded soon. “It was held up by the Presidential election and many other issues,” he said.
“The Uddhav Thackeray faction had filed a plea seeking disqualification of the MLAs with Mr. Shinde. We [Shinde-led camp] had given notice to the remaining 15 MLAs in their camp. The meaning of the court’s status quo in the case is merely that no party can seek disqualification of the other before the next hearing,” he said.
Claiming that the Shinde faction had “a strong case”, Mr. Fadnavis expressed confidence that the court’s verdict would be in favour of the new government.
Maharashtra has seen a two-man government in operation for nearly three weeks now after Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis assumed office on June 30. The Uddhav camp, especially Sanjay Raut, MP, had lambasted the Shinde faction and the BJP for failing to have a Ministry in place.
Mr. Raut has demanded that President’s Rule be imposed in the State, and said the BJP was delaying the Ministry expansion as the party feared that the Sena MLAs in the Shinde camp could face disqualification after taking oath as Ministers.
This would result in the collapse of the new government, which came into existence after Mr. Shinde’s revolt in the Sena toppled the Uddhav Thackeray government, he said.
Mr. Raut alleged that most of the 40 MLAs in the Shinde camp were facing serious allegations and were under the scanner of Central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate.
