New Delhi: After hearing all sides, the Supreme Court Wednesday late night refused to stay the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday.
The apex court bench also said it is ordering a notice on the petitions and that Thursday’s floor test proceedings will be subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.
The court also allowed jailed MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh to participate in the floor test in the Special Session of Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha on Thursday.
Leader of the rebel faction of Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde, and his entourage of rebel MLAs will reach Mumbai from Goa Thursday morning. Talking to the media, Shinde said he is not afraid as they have support of two-third MLAs. Shinde and his team will reach Goa on Wednesday.
The rebel MLAs also paid obeisance at the revered Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati. Meanwhile, jailed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh sought the Supreme Court’s permission to participate in the floor test. Both Malik and Deshmukh were booked for offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Barely hours after confusion over a “fake letter” asking Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority in the assembly, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari Wednesday morning shot off a letter to the assembly secretary for a special session on Thursday where Thackeray will have to prove majority. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena moved Supreme Court against the floor test. The court is expected to hear the matter at 5 pm.
The call for a floor test was impressed upon the Governor by Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday. Hours after meeting BJP national president J P Nadda, Fadnavis reached Raj Bhawan to meat Koshiyari.
The rebel camp claims to have support of over 50 MLAs — 40 of the Shiv Sena and the rest comprising Independent MLAs. Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday appealed to the rebel MLAs who have been camping in a hotel in Assam’s Guwahati to come back to Mumbai. Thackeray, in an emotional appeal, asked them to come back, hold talks and resolve the issue.
