Maharashtra Government: The supreme Court had ordered the Fadnavis government to face a floor test “immediately”, saying if it was delayed, “there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the Court to act to protect democratic values”
Maharashtra News: PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah discussed the situation in the state
The supreme Court had ordered the Fadnavis government to face a floor test “immediately”, saying if it was delayed, “there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the Court to act to protect democratic values”.
PM Modi and Amit Shah, who were at a function in parliament to mark the Constitution Day, met soon after to discuss the verdict.
After the meeting, a message was given to Devendra Fadnavis, sources say.
Mr Fadnavis announced his resignation at 3.30 pm.
Mr Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were sworn in on Saturday morning in a deeply controversial oath ceremony that suddenly flashed on TV screens a few minutes before 8 am.
To facilitate the unscheduled oath, a central government order revoking President’s Rule in Maharashtra was issued at 5.47 am after PM Modi used a rare clause to approve it without consulting the cabinet.
The manner in which the government formation took place was challenged by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance in the Supreme Court.
The BJP claimed it had handed the Governor a letter of support from 170 MLAs before being invited to form government.
After joining hands with the BJP, Ajit Pawar had claimed the support of all 54 MLAs of his party NCP, but his uncle Sharad Pawar had contested it.
Over the past three days, however, NCP MLAs who had gone “missing” returned, some of them accusing Ajit Pawar of misleading them.
Yesterday, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine paraded their MLAs at a five-star hotel in Mumbai and said, “We have 162.”
Prasanta Patnaik