The move comes despite a case pending in the Bombay High Court regarding the vacant posts of 12 MLCs appointed by the Governor
Chitra Wagh is one among 7 MLCs scheduled to take oath today/ File Photo
Even as the seven governer-nominated MLCs were about to take the oath of office barely three hours before the model code of conduct came into force in Maharashtra, the Opposition cried foul and moved the court saying that a case about the 12 individuals who were recommended by the MVA was still subjudice.
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Last night, the governor accepted the government's recommendations for filling seven out of 12 vacancies. Three were from BJP and two each from the Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar).
BJP's state women wing chief Chitra Wagh, state general secretary Vikrant Patil and religious guru of Banjara community, Babusingh Maharaj Rathod will be sworn in Tuesday at noon along with Sena's Hemant Patil and Manisha Kayande, and NCP's Pankaj Bhujbal and Idris Naikwadi.
On Tuesday morning, the Sena (UBT) challenged the oath ceremony in the Bombay High Court, calling it unconstitutional and demanding to stall it.
Commenting on the nominations, state Congress president Nana Patole said the party and MVA will challenge the appointments. "What about the 12 the MVA had sent to the governor's office? The then governor didn't act on our recommendations, but now when the case is pending in the court, the governor has nominated the MLCs. We will go to the court," he said.
NCP (Sharad Pawar) leaders also said that they will seek the court's intervention.
Meanwhile, the Legislative Council deputy chairman Neelam Gorhe's office informed that she would administer the oath of office and secrecy to the newly-appointed MLCs at 12 pm, nearly three hours before the Election Commission of India's announcement of the election programme in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Seat-sharing huddle
The Maharashtra BJP core group meeting's first phase, wherein talks about the seats of the current MLAs were held, came to an end on Monday. Seat-sharing was discussed in a three-hour-long meeting held at the BJP headquarters; party national president JP Nadda presided over the meeting.
State President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Chandrakant Patil, Raosaheb Danve, Muralidhar Mohol, Vinod Tawde, Ashish Shelar, Pankaja Munde, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attended the meeting.
Home Minister Amit Shah, Ashwini Vaishnav, Bhupendra Yadav, Piyush Goyal, and Organisation General Secretary B. L. Santosh were also in attendance on behalf of the central leadership.
Later this year, elections will be held for the 288 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly. The dates for the assembly elections are anticipated to be announced by the Indian Election Commission on Tuesday. The Mahayuti Alliance, which consists of the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), and the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which consists of the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress, will compete in the next Maharashtra election.
With ANI inputs
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