New Delhi/Mumbai: Upping its ante on the “illegitimate” BJP-led government, the Congress on Sunday sought for immediate resignation of CM Devendra Fadnavis.
The opposition party’s remarks came after the Supreme Court, in an unprecedented hearing on Sunday, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to produce letters of support, used by Fadnavis in staking claim to form the government in Maharashtra, by 10.30 am Monday before passing orders on the brewing political drama in the state.
Terming Fadnavis’s government an “illegitimate government”, former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the Congress demands that the state government should tender its resignation without any delay and arrange a floor test on Monday.
“The Maharashtra government has no right to be in power,” he said. Chavan expressed hope the Supreme Court would give a verdict on Monday in their favour and in the favour of people of Maharashtra because the current government is “illegitimate” and is not “worthy” to rule for even a day.
“If we were not sure of forming government in Maharashtra, we would not have demanded a floor test,” Chavan said in response to media queries following the SC order to defer the hearing on Maharashtra government formation issue while asking Centre to submit the letters of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari inviting Fadnavis and of the BJP leader staking his claim to form the government.
He questioned why the government does not want to hold floor test if it has majority. “Why they are seeking time for the floor test? “This is an illegitimate government. In the floor test, it would be clear that the BJP and Ajit Pawar has no majority.”
The SC, however, did not grant any interim relief to the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress combine to direct the Fadnavis government to undertake floor test within 24 hours and rather said that this issue would be dealt with only after perusing the two letters on Monday.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice NV Ramana said the plea of post-poll alliance, ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’, seeking a direction to the Governor to invite them to form government under the leadership of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray would not be considered at present.
