MUMBAI: A delegation of Maha Vikas Aghadi ministers met governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari with the immediate demand of clearing the proposal for appointment of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as a member in the state legislative council on Tuesday evening.
The delegation was headed by the deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar while Balasaheb Thorat, Jayant Patil, Anil Parab, Chhagan Bhujbal, Eknath Shinde etc were part of this delegation.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had called the cabinet on last Monday where a proposal earlier appointing Uddhav Thackeray as member of state legislative council was amended and approved again. It was also submitted to the governor for his clearance.
Uddhav Thackeray is neither the member of the Upper nor in the Lower house when he took the oath as chief minister on November 28, 2019. However, as per rule, he has to be a member of either of House within the six months after taking the oath of the chief minister.
Earlier the Maharashtra cabinet had submitted the same proposal to the governor. However, this same proposal was neither approved rejected by the governor. "The legal team had raised the validity of the earlier proposal saying the without giving authority to Ajit Pawar by chief minister Thackeray, the cabinet meeting was called by Pawar. Besides, the appointment of Uddhav Thackeray as a member of the Upper House issue was not officially part of the cabinet agenda. These technical issues could have been raised by the governor and cited for his disapproval for proposal. Therefore, we made necessary changes in an earlier proposal," said a senior Congress minister requesting anonymity.
Jayant Patil, irrigation minister and NCP state president said that they are hopeful that the governor will approve the proposal of appointing Uddhav Thackeray as member of Upper House immediately and end the uncertainty during the time of the pandemic.
Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had earlier sought legal opinion over the appointment of Thackeray as member of the Upper House from his own governor quota. The two seats are vacant in state legislative council but these seat duration will expire on June 10, 2020.
"So, is it appropriate to appoint Thackeray as member of the Upper House for short durations? Earlier also cabinet had sent two names which were not approved by the governor, so whether Thackeray name should be approved now," is the question governor had asked his legal team.
If the governor did not approve Thackeray's name, he will have to take oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra for a second-time with the support of two parties NCP and the Congress.
Interestingly, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had a meeting with Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray at a former mayoral bungalow in Dadar where all these political issues were discussed. The meeting was also attended by the Ajit Pawar ad Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat.
"Pawar saheb is confident that government will have to approve this amended new proposal of appointment of Thackeray as member in Upper House. Therefore, another cabinet meeting was called and an amended proposal was approved and submitted to the governor for his clearance," said s senior NCP leader requesting anonymity.