As both sides have refused to blink and appear prepared for a long fight, sources say Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari may ask the Maharashtra government to prove majority in the house sometime this week.
Sources claim that the Eknath Shinde camp is consulting lawyers over the Constitutional provisions for holding a floor test.
Shinde, the leader of a staggering coup against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, claims that he has the backing of around 50 MLAs, nearly 40 from the Shiv Sena.
Reports suggest that several BJP leaders held a brainstorming session at Devendra Fadnavis’s residence in Mumbai to discuss the arithmetic required to form a government along with the Shinde faction. “We are open to the proposal of government formation from Eknath Shinde,” said party leader Sudhir Mungantiwa.
The Supreme Court has extended the time granted to Eknath Shinde and 15 other rebel Shiv Sena MLAs to file their responses to the disqualification notices issued to them by Deputy Speaker Narahari Zirwal till 5:30 pm on July 12. Zirwal belongs to the party of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s ally Sharad Pawar.
Acting on the pleas filed by the rebels, the Supreme Court also sought responses from the Deputy Speaker, chief whip of Shiv Sena Sunil Prabhu and leader of Shiv Sena Legislature Party Ajay Chaudhary and the Centre.
When advocate Devdutt Kamat, appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, contended that there should be no trust vote till the pending issues are decided, the Supreme Court said it cannot pass an order as that would create unnecessary complications. “If anything illegal happens, you can always move this court,” it said.
Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision, senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and reiterated their support for him.
Eknath Shinde, meanwhile, termed the Supreme Court’s verdict as the victory of Balasaheb Thackeray’s Hindutva.
Aditya Thackeray, addressing the party workers, claimed that around 15-20 rebel MLAs, who are staying at a Guwahati hotel in Assam, are in touch with him and have urged the party to bring them back to Mumbai.
With inputs from NDTV
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