What A Slap; Eknath Shinde Should Resign: Uddhav Faction Leaders On SC Verdict

Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on Sena versus Sena row and said it was a tight slap to the Shinde faction as the top court termed the floor test that brought the current government to power- illegal.

Shortly after the SC verdict, Sanjay Raut said if the top court has observed that Sunil Prabhu of Uddhav Thackeray faction of Sena remains the official whip, then as per its observation, 16 rebel MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, stand disqualified. He said Speaker Rahul Narwekar cannot follow the official whip.

Raut also asserted that since the process of formation of the government was illegal, the Shinde government is illegal. Shinde should resign on moral grounds, he added.

Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the apex court verdict was a tight slap on the face of the unconstitutional and illegal government enjoying the perks of power minus accountability.

"The whip Bharat Gogawale appointed by Shinde judges as illegal - The Governor's floor test decision was outside his jurisdiction and authority. Slap on the face of the unconstitutional and illegal government enjoying the perks of power minus accountability," Chaturvedi tweeted.

"As per the judgment today, the entire government of Shinde Fadnavis was formed on the basis of an illegal whip deciding whom to vote for and a trust vote carried out on the orders of a biased Governor. What a slap on the face of this illegal cabinet," she added.

While the NCP accused the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari of acting as BJP cadre.

"So the truth is, Ex governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari acted as a BJP cadre and not as a bearer of a constitutional position whose role is to be a neutral guardian of the state," tweeted NCP lspokesperson Clyde Crasto.

In a unanimous verdict, the Supreme Court held the Maharashtra governor was not justified in calling upon then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove majority in the Assembly on June 30 last year but refused to order status quo ante, saying he did not face the floor test and resigned.

The five-bench judge held that House speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as the whip of Shiv Sena was illegal.

It, however, said since Thackeray had resigned without facing the floor test, the governor was justified in inviting Shinde to form government at the behest of the BJP which was the largest political party in the house.