New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Sunday commenced hearing the joint plea of Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP against the decision of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari inviting BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to form the government.
A three-judge bench of Supreme Court headed by Justice N V Ramana and comprising of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna have started the hearing in the case.
“The majority is 145 seats in the state. The pre-poll alliance comes first. The pre-poll alliance broke down. Now, we are relying on the post-poll alliance,” argued Congress leader and advocate Kapil Sibal in the Supreme Court on behalf of petitioners.
The petitioners – Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress – have requested the Supreme Court to order a floor test to be held on Sunday itself.
At a time when deliberations among Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena on the formation of a non-BJP government in the state had seemingly reached the final stage, the BJP formed the government in a surprise development on Saturday morning when Devendra Fadnavis took oath for the second consecutive term as the state Chief Minister, while Ajit Pawar of NCP as his Deputy Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party late on Saturday moved 44 MLAs to Renaissance Hotel here on Saturday. The BJP won 105 seats in the 288-member assembly followed by Shiv Sena 56, NCP 54 and Congress 44.