After successfully returning to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a new mission: to install its chairman in the state legislative council.
But there is a problem. Despite being in the government, the BJP doesn’t have the required numbers to claim the chair. So, it is counting on the 12 nominations from the governor’s quota to boost its tally from 26 to 38. In that case this will surpass the collective strength of 37 MLCs belonging to the erstwhile Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The chairman’s post is currently vacant after Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar retired last month. The vice chairperson Neelam Gorhe (Shiv Sena) is holding the charge.
In a recent meeting, the council of ministers empowered chief minister Eknath Shinde to withdraw the 12 names recommended by the previous regime. Governor B S Koshyari had not cleared the names for nomination to the upper house for more than a year, leading to a confrontation with the MVA government.
The state cabinet is expected to announce the new names from the BJP and the Shinde camp ahead of the winter session in December. With this, the BJP can avoid the backlash from political and social quarters.
“We could have nominated 12 members to the council with immediate effect and claimed the post, but we decided to wait till the next session in December. The decision was taken to avert the social and political backlash. The governor had not cleared the names recommended by the previous government for more than one-and-a-half years. So, the immediate approval of the names put forward by the Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government could have invited a sharp reaction from various quarters,” a BJP minister requesting anonymity said.
“If we gain a full majority in the upper house by next session, we can claim the post of not only chairman but even that of deputy chairman,” he added.
Another BJP leader said that the ruling parties were also waiting for the ruling on the petition related to the governor’s nominations filed in the Supreme Court.
The BJP is expected to accommodate two to three names from the Shinde camp in the 12 members to be nominated from the governor’s quota.
As of now, the opposition is in the majority in the council. Sena has 12 sitting members, while Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have 10 members each. Two of the three members from smaller parties and three of four independents support the MVA, taking its tally to 37. On the other hand, the BJP enjoys the support of one independent and a smaller party other than its 24 MLCs.
