Uddhav Thackeray can heave a sigh of relief till June 6, as his CM chair looks safe

Governor is likely to accept recommendation of the state cabinet

Mumbai:

The Maharashtra state cabinet chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday unanimously approved of the decision to recommend Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to nominate Uddhav Thackeray as a Member of Upper House (MLC) from the Governor’s Quota. 

The cabinet has agreed to leave one of the two vacant seats of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) from the Governor’s nomination quota for Chief Minister Thackeray. Governor Koshyari is likely to accept the cabinet’s recommendation in order to avoid a constitutional crisis in the state. 

Uddhav Thackeray, who took oath as the Chief Minister on November 28, 2019, is not a member of either House – Upper and Lower.

Constitutional provisions mandate that he must become a member of either House before a stipulated period of six months. 

Thackeray’s six-month term will end on May 27. As the election for nine members of the Upper House from assembly constituency quota has been postponed, it is become necessary to nominate Thackeray from the Governor quota.

Out of 12 Governor nominated members (MLCs), 10 are retiring on June 6 and two on June 15. Of these 10, NCP’s Rahul Narvekar and Ramrao Vadkute have already resigned from the post before the state assembly elections in 2019 and theses seats are still vacant. 

The then Governor had appointed five Congress members, six NCP and one from People’s Republican Party (PRP). As there was no any member from Shiv Sena, it was necessitated for the present cabinet to nominate Thackeray from either Congress or NCP quota. NCP’s two seats are vacant and hence the NCP offered Thackeray one seat from their own quota. 

Also Read: Uddhav Thackeray is likely to become MLC from Governor Nominated quota

According to constitutional experts, after the Governor’s nomination, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will be elected to the Upper House of the Legislature till June 6. 

“At least, Thackeray will get relief till June 6. The State will also be save d from a potential constitutional crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said a political observer. 

Sanjay Dutt, former Congress MLC and party in-charge of Tamil Nadu , recalled that a similar situation arose in 2011 with former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who, too, was not a member of either House at the time. 

“I was elected in Upper House from elected members (MLA) constituency and had tendered my resignation to pave the way for Chavan to become the member of Upper House. At that time there was election scheduled within six months from the date when Chavan had taken oath as CM. Hence, I quit the post on March 11, 2011,” recalled Dutt.

Dutt further said that fortunately, two seats from Governor nominated quota is vacant where Thackeray would be accommodated.

What will happen after June 6?

Meanwhile, according to constitutional experts, Thackeray can serve as MLC till June 6 only. However, when all 12 seats will fall vacant after June 6 and June 15, the state cabinet will recommend the name of 12 persons or politicos to the Governor to nominate them as members of the Upper House. 

In that case, Thackeray’s name would again figure in the list in the event the lockdown continued into the month of June.

Else, Thackeray would have an option to become member of Upper House from elected member constituency, if lockdown will be roll-out by the end of May and Election Commission will announce the election programme to elect nine members who will be retiring on 24 of this month, said the expert.

“For the election of Upper House to elect from elected members constituency (MLA), it needs at least 21 days to conduct the election. Hence, it seems, the election will not be possible in the near future. Governor nominated would be the only option for CM to become a member of Upper House,” claimed the expert.

The expert said  there was no need to have an election or get permission from the Election Commission of India to nominate MLC by the Governor. It’s discretionary power of Governor to nominate 12 members from fraternity-like sports, artist, literature to the Upper House.

It is claimed that in order to avoid criticism by the opposition, Thackeray remained absent from the cabinet meeting in which the decision to recommend his name was taken. 

While social media warriors from the opposition have questioned as to how a CM, who is not a member of any house, can recommend his own name to the Governor, the expert said that it was the State Cabinet that had the supreme power and that its decision normally was not rejected by the Governor.