MNS' Muslim leader resigns, accuses Raj Thackeray of changing party's stand

 Charging Maharashtra Navnirman Sena with attaining a communal approach rather than a developmental one, one of its Muslim leader from Pune on Tuesday resigned from the party

Charging Maharashtra Navnirman Sena with attaining a communal approach rather than a developmental one, one of its Muslim leader from Pune on Tuesday resigned from the party citing that the political stand of the party’s chief Raj Thackeray has changed. Majid Shaikh, the branch head of MNS, in his resignation letter stated: “I am resigning from the post because since the last few days, instead of focusing on issues like development, inflation, women empowerment, unemployment, the party is more focused on the communalism.”

Citing that the political stand of Thackeray has changed from a development to a communal one, Shaikh further stated, “Raj saheb was an icon for me as he used to talk about the blueprint of Maharashtra and farmers issues and that is why I had joined the party in 2009. But now his political stand has changed and politics of communalism has crept in the party and that is why I have resigned.”…Read More

Maharashtra government formation : SC orders floor test tomorrow

The floor test will be done through open ballot and it will be recorded on video, the court said

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered floor test in Maharashtra Assembly for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prove his majority in the House on November 27. The apex court also directed Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to ensure that all elected members of the house are sworn in on Wednesday itself. The entire exercise has to be completed by 5 pm. A bench comprising Justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna also said the entire proceedings has to be telecast live. Voting in the assembly shall not be on the basis of secret ballot, it said. The governor will also appoint a pro-tem speaker who will administer oath to the newly elected members.

The order comes a day after the court heard arguments by lawyers of the central government and the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress combine. The three parties argued that BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis doesn’t have the numbers to be chief minister, taking their fight separately to Parliament. BJP and the central government lawyers said Fadnavis will prove his majority, but the court didn’t have the power to direct Maharashtra’s governor to fix a deadline for a floor test in the Assembly.

On the eve of the SC hearing, the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress party paraded their legislators, an estimated 162, in front of the media at a five-star hotel in Mumbai to back their claim that the alliance commanded the majority in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

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What the SC ordered in Maharashtra

*Here is what the Supreme Court said today:
 
The following procedure is to be followed for conducting the floor test:

a. Pro­tem Speaker shall be solely appointed for the aforesaid agenda immediately.

b. All the elected members shall take oath on 27.11.2019, which exercise should be completed before 5:00 p.m.

c. Immediately thereafter, the Pro­tem Speaker shall conduct the floor test in order to ascertain whether the Respondent No. 3 has the majority, and these proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with law. The floor test will not be conducted by secret ballot.

d. The proceedings have to be live telecast, and appropriate arrangements are to be made to ensure the same…

Read More: Maharashtra Government Formation

Shiv Sena firm on CM post, asks BJP to not misuse interim govt norm

Sena said the BJP should approach the Uddhav Thackeray-led party only if it agrees to share the chief minister’s post with it

The Shiv Sena on Friday remained firm on its demand for sharing the chief minister’s post in Maharashtra and asked the BJP not to misuse the provision of “caretaker” government to remain in power in the state. Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the BJP should approach the Uddhav Thackeray-led party only if it agrees to share the chief minister’s post with the junior saffron ally.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should resign as the term of the existing assembly is ending on November 9, the Sena spokesman while talking to reporters here. “The BJP shouldn’t prolong the caretaker provision and act from behind the curtains. We won’t mind if the BJP, as the single largest party, stakes claim and forms the government,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

The Sena, insisting on equal distribution of portfolios and sharing the chief minister’s post with the BJP for 2.5 years each, will “soon” meet Governor B S Koshyari, said Raut, the executive editor of party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

After the term of an assembly ends, the governor becomes the guardian of the state, Raut said. To a question on Union minister and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari’s trip to Mumbai and possibility of him visiting ‘Matoshree’ (the residence of the Thackerays) to break the deadlock, Raut said,” Gadkari is a resident of Mumbai. There is no news that he is coming. “He will go to his house. Has he told you that he is bringing a letter giving the Sena 2.5 years of chief ministership.”