Maha Assembly Speaker Must Take Decision on Disqualification of 16 MLAs At the Earliest: Uddhav

GG News Bureau

Mumbai, 12th May. Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray asked on Friday that Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar decide on the disqualification of 16 MLAs as soon as possible.

He made the demand a day after the Supreme Court issued its decision on last year’s political crisis, which resulted in the collapse of his three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government after a revolt by Eknath Shinde, who later joined forces with the BJP to become chief minister.

Anil Parab, Thackeray’s party colleague, said they will write to Speaker Nawerkar, asking him to make a decision on the matter as soon as possible.

“The gift of life to the 16 MLAs is temporary because the Supreme Court has given a ‘reasonable time’ and it has limitations. The Speaker must take his decision at the earliest,” Thackeray said.

The Supreme Court said on Thursday that it cannot reinstate Thackeray’s MVA government since he quit without facing a floor test in June last year. It asked the Speaker to decide on the disqualification of 16 MLAs within a “reasonable period.”

The court also stated that the Speaker’s decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde faction as Shiv Sena whip in the Assembly was “contrary to law”.