Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday allowed the withdrawal of 12 Maharashtra Legislative Council nominations that had been sent by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government. The development came soon after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde wrote to the Governor and withdrew the 2020 list. The new administration has informed the Raj Bhavan that it will send a fresh list of MLC nominations.
The previous government led by Uddhav Thackeray had nominated 12 people as MLCs two years ago, but the file was never approved by Governor Koshyari. Prominent among the 12 names suggested by the MVA included actor Urmila Matondkar who had joined Shiv Sena after quitting Congress.
People from the fields of arts, literature, social work etc are eligible to be nominated as MLCs.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led government, which comprised the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, collapsed in June this year after a revolt in the Sena led by MLA Eknath Shinde and 39 other legislators. Shinde was sworn in as the CM along with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy on June 30.
As the BMC elections near, the latest flashpoint between the Thackeray and Shinde factions has been the ‘booking’ of Mumbai’s Shivaji Park for a Dussehra rally.
The phrase ‘darshan diplomacy’ has also cropped up as the CM visited several homes for Ganapati darshan amid the ongoing festival. Speculative reports have suggested that he has used the festival to reach out to both Sena rivals and old time loyalist, as well as former party leaders such as MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Union Minister Narayan Rane.
