Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s nomination in the state legislative council remains a mere formality. The state cabinet, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, on Thursday unanimously recommended to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to nominate Thackeray to one of the two seats as Governor's nominee in the council.
The government will dispatch the letter on Friday to the Governor for further action. With this, Thackeray, who was sworn in on November 28 last year without him being a member of either House, will become the member of the state legislative council and thereby continue to be the CM.
As per the legislative norms, Thackeray would have got himself elected to either of the House before completion of six months in power, which ends on May 28. Minister of Minority Affairs Nawab Malik said:
"According to the Constitution, the Chief Minister has to become a member of a House within six months of the government formation. There are two seats from the Governor's quota vacant which are to be filled by him. Uddhav Thackeray is not a member of any House yet."
Another senior minister told FPJ that the government had sought advice from the Departments of Law and Judiciary and Legislative Affairs and consulted leading legal heads.
Based on their opinions, the state cabinet decided to recommend the CM’s name to the Governor, so that he could be nominated by him to one of the two seats.
“These two seats are lying vacant after NCP legislators Ramrao Wadkute and Rahul Narvekar resigned to join BJP last year. Their term was up to June 6 this year. After Governor’s approval, Thackeray can enjoy his tenure up to June 6.
Thereafter, he can get elected in the state council by the members of the legislative assembly after the Election Commission announces a new poll schedule,’’ the minister added. The Minister said the cabinet chose the Governor’s nominee route for Thackeray due to the nationwide lockdown because of coronavirus; also, the EC had postponed elections to the state council in Maharashtra and Bihar till further orders.