Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday sought to know who was stopping Maharashtra Governor B K Koshyari from approving the state Cabinet's recommendation to nominate Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as MLC from the governor's quota.
Raut said Koshyari's affiliation with the BJP is not a secret, but this is not the time to indulge in politics. Thackeray is not a member of either of the two Houses of the state legislature. He was sworn in as chief minister on November 28 last year and completes six months in office on May 28.
As per the Constitution, a minister or a chief minister who is not a member of either of the houses has to be elected to either of the Houses within six months of being sworn into the post, failing which the person must resign. Raut expressed confidence that Thackeray will remain chief minister of the state even after May 27.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar recently held a Cabinet meeting which suggested Thackeray's name as governor-nominated member of the Legislative Council (MLC). "The Maharashtra Cabinet has recommended Uddhav Thackeray's name as member of the Legislative Council from the governor's quota.
There is vacancy as well. Then who is stopping him (Koshyari) from approving the recommendation? Raut wondered while speaking to a Marathi news channel. Raut in a tweet on Sunday referred to Ram Lal, who served as Governor of Andhra Pradesh from August 15, 1983 to August 29, 1984.
Lal courted controversy after he appointed that state's finance minister N Baskar Rao as Chief Minister, while the incumbent CM N T Rama Rao was away in the US for surgery. This change was supposedly done at the behest of then Congress leadership, even when Baskar Rao had no more than 20 per cent of MLAs supporting him.
NTR returned to the state after a week and launched a massive campaign against Ram Lal. "Those who indulge in politics are anti-nationals. They should face sedition charges. I dare those trying to dethrone the Uddhav Thackeray government that they should desist from doing so," he said.
Neither Delhi nor the Raj Bhavan in Maharashtra can stop Thackeray from staying chief minister of Maharashtra even after May 27, the Sena leader said. "There is nothing to hide about Koshyari's BJP affiliation. But I would like to make one thing clear that Uddhav Thackeray is going to be the chief minister of Maharashtra even after May 27," he said.
