No Floor Test In Maharashtra Today, All Eyes On Supreme Court's Tuesday Order

The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress plea and said that it will pronounce its verdict on Maharashtra claim at 10:30 am on Tuesday. The Supreme Court’s decision would come as a breather for BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis. A bench comprising Justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna is likely to pass an order on holding of a floor test. The combine was pressing that the floor test be ordered today itself which was opposed by Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Appearing for the Secretary to the Governor of Maharashtra, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta recounted the events that led up to the swearing-in ceremony of Fadnavis. Mehta produced a letter by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar purportedly stating that 54 MLAs of the NCP had elected him as the leader of the party. The members had also agreed to extend its support to the BJP, Mehta claimed. Appearing on behalf of Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena, kapil Sibal said, “"When the Governor waited for so many days, what was the emergency that required revocation of President's Rule at 5.47 in the morning and installing a Govt at 8 am?" Sibal further added that, “There was a list of signatures (of 54 NCP MLAs), but did it say that the MLAs were agreeing to support the BJP? There can be signatures without a covering letter."

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Ajit Pawar, told the bench that the governor rightly invited Fadnavis to form government. The apex court said it is not considering the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress' combine's plea that they be invited to form government in Maharashtra.