MVA government to recommend 'eminent 12' to Governor tomorrow

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government will recommend to the governor the 12 names to be appointed to the legislative council on Thursday, triggering another round of speculations as to whether the Raj Bhavan will accept the list.

Considering the strained relations between the governor and the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, many in the political circles don't expect the process to be without hiccups. The exchange of letters between the chief minister and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been the latest controversial matter. Last Sunday, Thackeray slammed Koshyari for questioning his party's ideology. The friction is unlikely to stop anytime soon, considering the nature, procedure and eligibility of political appointments to the upper house.

In the 78-member house, 12 members are appointed every six years by the governor on the Cabinet's recommendation. The successive governments have flouted a Constitutional provision under Art 171(5) of the Indian Constitution, under which eminent personalities possessing special qualifications and experience related to the fields of literature, science, arts, cooperative fields and social service, etc. can be nominated as members of the legislative council. The governor can delay the appointments but not reject them, despite reservations over credentials.

The MVA-Raj Bhavan tussle's genesis can be traced to the last year's developments, especially the making of the two back-to-back governments - one that Koshyari administered oath to early morning and the other that he formalised at Shivaji Park. The Raj Bhavan and the CMO sparred over an issue or two.

Koshyari refused to fill two vacancies in his quota early this year, saying six months were left to the full-term and the appointments could be taken up when all 12 vacancies were created mid-year. Due to the pandemic the governor came up with the suggestion that the Cabinet should wait further to send him the 12 names from the categories approved by the Constitution.

Sources said the Thackeray government has decided to push through with all its might. It postponed the decision last week because the Congress hadn't finalised its four candidates. A senior Congress leader said the high command would decide the names Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Who could be nominated

The MVA partners will have a share of four seats each. From Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, ex-minister Naseem Khan, Satyajeet Tambe, Mohan Joshi, many names are in the reckoning. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is expected to recommend ex-BJP leader Eknath Khadse and two others who were recommended earlier. The Shiv Sena could recommend the party's secretary and the CM's trusted PA, Milind Narvekar, Sachin Ahir and others.

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