Himachal assembly by-polls: Congress announces candidates for 3 seats
The by-polls in six Assembly constituencies in the state are scheduled to be held on June 1 along with the Lok Sabha elections.
As Supreme Court holds urgent hearing of petition filed by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance, seeking quashing of the Maharashtra Governor’s decision to swear in Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister, the parties have demanded an immediate floor test within 24 hours to avoid “further horse-trading.”
Three-judge bench of Justices NV Ramana, Ashok Bhushan, and Sanjiv Khanna are hearing the petition at the Supreme Court where lawyers Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi have said the Governor was “duty bound” to study the claim of Fadnavis before inviting him to form government, especially so when the Sena, NCP and the Congress, which have 154 MLAs together, said they would stake claim to form the government .
After the BJP party made an unexpected comeback to power on November 23 in Maharashtra state, home to country’s financial capital, after prolonged backroom negotiations which saw presidential rule lifted after days of uncertainty. With some shrewd political moves as Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar changed sides Devendra Fadnavis became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra early Saturday morning.
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The Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress chief Sharad Pawar who were busy chalking out an alliance, appeared shell-shocked as the country woke to the news that Devendra Fadnavis has taken oath as the Maharashtra Chief Minister with Ajit Pawar whom he repeatedly accused of corruption as his deputy.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday evening held a joint press conference with Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to denounce Ajit, and to claim that of the 10-11 NCP MLAs who had accompanied him to the swearing-in, three had “returned.” Ajit was later removed as NCP legislature party chief at a meeting of the NCP, where party leaders claimed 42 of its 54 MLAs were present.
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