Mumbai: After almost eight days of deliberations, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Friday submitted a list of 12 members to be nominated to the Legislative Council from the governor's quota. As reported by The Free Press Journal, Urmila Matondkar, who took on actor Kangana Ranaut for her comparison of Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, topped the Shiv Sena's list, while former BJP leader Eknath Khadse led the Nationalist Congress Party’s list and Sachin Sawant, the spokesman taking on the BJP on a number of issues, has found a spot on the Congress’s list.
The NCP’s list included Khadse and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana founder and former MP Raju Shetti (both for co-operation and social service), Anand Shinde (arts and culture) and Yashpal Bhinge, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi contestant for the Nanded Lok Sabha seat and from the Dhangar community (literature).
Apart from Urmila Matondkar (arts and culture), the Sena has nominated Nitin Bangude Patil (leading speaker on Chhatrapati Shivaji), Vijay Karanjkar (the party’s Nashik district chief) and Chandrakant Raghuvanshi from the tribal-dominated Nandurbar district and the Rajput community. Raghuvanshi is a former Congress legislator.
The Congress has finally nominated Sachin Sawant, who has been patiently waiting in the wings. Sawant has been nominated for social service and cooperation. Other nominees include former MP Rajani Patil (social service and cooperation), who is a confidante of party interim president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. She is currently in charge of Himachal Pradesh. Further, former legislator Muzaffar Hussain (social service) and Anirudha Vankar (arts and culture) were also included in the Congress list.
The list was submitted to the Governor at Raj Bhavan by a delegation of MVA ministers consisting of Nawab Malik (NCP), Anil Parab (Shiv Sena) and Amit Deshmukh (Congress). “We have submitted the list of 12 nominees to be appointed by the governor in a sealed envelope, along with a letter from Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) and the Cabinet resolution (approving their nomination), said Transport Minister Parab.
He said the chief minister’s letter mentions requisite legal aspects and requests the Governor to appoint the nominees as per law. “We have submitted the list, fulfilling all the legal aspects,” Parab said, when asked whether the members recommended by the cabinet satisfied the legal criteria to be nominated to the council by the governor.
The MVA leaders were confident that the governor would soon declare the names, Parab said. The Maharashtra cabinet had discussed the proposal to recommend the names last week and its minutes were approved on Thursday.
The ball now is in the governor’s court, especially in the backdrop of the recent war of words between him and the chief minister, on the issue of reopening of temples, followed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s scathing criticism.
Already, NCP minister Hassan Mushrif has alleged that there is consensus between Koshyari and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, to reject the 12 names proposed by the state cabinet.
The tenure of 12 MLCs nominated by the governor had ended in June this year. The Maharashtra Legislative Council has 78 members.
