The twists and turns that have occurred after the Maha Election results came out the on Oct 24th would put director duo Abbas-Mustan to shame.
For most people, it’s become too hard to keep track so here’s what has happened so far.
1) The BJP won 105 seats, its 'ally' Sena got 56. Sharad Pawar's NCP managed 54 and INC 44.
2) While the BJP and Sena had a comfortable majority to form the govt, Sena refused to budge from its demand for the CM post for two-and-a-half years.
3) Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari delayed the entire process, first calling Fadnavis and gave him 48 hours to form the government. He refused to form the govt.
The governor then called Sena and NCP individually, and suddenly called president’s rule even before the deadline ended. President’s Rule began in Maharashtra.
4) Kovind signed the paper recommending that President’s rule be lifted in Maharashtra in at 6:47 AM. Incidentally, they used a rare rule to bypass the need for Cabinet Approval.
Rule 12 of the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rule 12 states: “Departure from Rules.- The Prime Minister may, in any case or classes of cases permit or condone a departure from these rules, to the extent he deems necessary."
5) After hectic parleys, Cong-Sena-NCP had appeared to arrive at a Common Minimum Program and Sharad Pawar announced on Friday night that Uddhav Thackeray would become CM.
6) Some time between this and morning, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as CM, and Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM at 7:30 AM.
7) Ajit, former Maha Deputy CM and Sharad Pawar’s nephew claimed he had the support of all NCP MLAs. Interestingly, Ajit Pawar had been targeted by Fadnavis and Modi, before the elections and was also booked by the ED.
8) Sharad Pawar however said his nephew - who’s also the leader of the NCP party – had done this without his support. Several MLAs claimed they had signed a paper for their attendance, and not to support Fadnavis.
9) Some of the MLAs who had gone with Ajit claimed they didn’t know what was happening and returned.
10) All eyes will now be on Nov 30 when Devendra Fadnavis will have to prove his majority in a floor test. However, one can expect one of the grieving parties to approach SC and ask why Rule 12 was invoked (which it should be for national emergencies) and why Fadnavis has been given till Nov 30 to form the govt.
11) The Sena-NCP-Cong are moving SC to challenge Fadnavis' appointment by Maha Governor.
