Withdrawing litigations over Governor nominated MLCs may be easier said than done for state BJP Prez Chandrashekhar Bawankule

X : prashanthamine

Mumbai: Withdrawing the litigation over the 12 Governor Nominated Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) pending before the Bombay High Court, may be easier said than done for State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Chandrashekhar Bawankule. There are two different sets of cases over the same issue filed one by the BJP and other by the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (SS-UBT) faction. Asking the party’s lawyer to withdraw his litigation may be an easier thing to do, but the moot question will the SS-UBT agree to simultaneously withdrawing its petition?

The matter has been witnessing a musical chair of sorts scenario since April 27, 2020 after Adv Ashish Giri petitioned then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari urging the latter to reject the recommendation of then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to nominate 12 members under section 151A of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1951.

Thereafter, on May 28, 2021 Advocate Giri moved the Bombay High Court under Article 226 and 227 of the Constitution and seeking directions to the respondent authorities to adhere to the criteria’s before making nominations under Article 171(5) of the Constitution of India pursuant to the advice/decision of the Respondent’s Council of Ministers submitted to Hon’ble Governor in November, 2020.

The political equations surrounding the case took yet another turn after Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena and took oath as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra on June 30, 2022. In July 2023, the Shinde government informed the Bombay High Court that the earlier recommendation letter made by the previous Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking Governor’s approval for the appointment of 12 Nominated MLCs has been withdrawn and that no new recommendation has been made.

Following which the Governor acting on the letter from the new Mahayuti government on September 5, 2022, returned the letter of recommendation of the previous MVA government.

Things have now become even more complicated after Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on July 2, 2023 and joined hands with the BJP-Shinde led Mahayuti government.

During the tenure of the MVA government a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by one Sunil Modi, Vibhag Pramukh of Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC). The Bombay High Court had in its ruling held that it was the constitutional duty of the Governor to either accept or return the names within a reasonable time.

The decision of the Bombay High Court was appealed against in the Supreme Court. The division bench of the apex court asked the Governor not to take any further steps regarding the vacancies.

The formal recognition of the split in the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the undivided Shiv Sena (SHS) has not as yet been officially notified by the Maharashtra State Legislature secretariat as of February 25, 2024. The numbers game in the upper house depends a lot on the two disqualification petitions related to the split in the NCP and the Shiv Sena, that are still pending before the Supreme Court.

The party-wise strength in the 78-member upper house is as follows – NCP 9, Congress 8, Shiv Sena 11, BJP 22, JD-U 1, PWPI 1, RSP 1, Independent’s 4 and Vacancies 21 (that includes 12 Governor Nominated members).

Matters have now been further complicated for the ruling Mahayuti government with the recent poor performance in the just concluded June 4 Lok Sabha elections. In four months-time the Mahayuti government faces the assembly elections in September-October.

What state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule may not have been aware of the legal complexities surrounding the case. Although withdrawing the petition is allowed, the question is, will the Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray (SS-UBT) faction agree to withdrawing its petition before the Bombay High Court?

Earlier in June 2022, the electoral pie of the 12 Nominated MLCs could have been shared equally between the BJP and the SS-ES faction. Now with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP joining the government in July 2023, that electoral pie now has to be shared between three alliance partners.

Given the frosty ties and mutual mistrust that the SS-UBT and the BJP have at the present moment, reaching a political understanding on the vexed issue right now appears to be a distant pipedream.