Maharashtra: Sanjay Raut Says Ajit Pawar 'Back With Us', Uddhav Thackeray To Be CM For 5 Years

Ajit Pawar is back with us, announced Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut shortly after the rebel NCP leader announced his resignation form the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The simple statement gains significance in the backdrop of intense politicking that went on to convince Ajit Pawar. The Shiv Sena leader also said that Uddhav Thackeray will be Chief Minister for five years. This is something that that Raut had said earlier also. This means that there will be no rotational CM and Shiv Sena will keep the top post for full term of five years.

The political scenario changed quickly after the Supreme Court ordered floor test tomorrow. While ordering floor test for Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, the Supreme Court Tuesday referred to its past decisions on Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand where it had ordered similar exercise in times of political crisis. The first decision it mentioned was upholding the disqualification of 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs in Karnataka by the then Assembly Speaker, which was pronounced on November 13 by the 3-judge bench led by Justice  N V Ramana.

Justice Ramana also headed the 3-judge bench in the Maharashtra matter and referred to the Karnataka judgment which had emphasised the requirement of imbibing constitutional morality by constitutional functionaries.

The apex court also mentioned its 2016 verdict in the case of Union of India vs Harish Chandra Singh Rawat in which it ordered the former chief minister of Uttarakhand to take a 'vote of confidence' on the floor of the Assembly.