Aghadi may submit signed affidavits to prove majority

MUMBAI: The newly minted Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance is planning to submit affidavits of 154 MLAs—midway mark is 144 in the 288-seat House—to the Supreme Court on Monday to argue that it has a majority in the assembly and the BJP-Ajit Pawar combine has no right to be in office.

A former chief minister confirmed to TOI that 56 MLAs from Shiv Sena, 44 from Congress, 46 from NCP, and eight independents have signed identical affidavits against the installation of Devendra Fadnavis as CM. “Fadnavis was installed secretly despite the fact that he had no majority,” he said.

The alliance’s strategists feel the affidavits will bolster its case for an immediate floor test. The task of keeping three sets of MLAs under watch is likely to get more challenging with each passing day and this is a cause for concern. “We will be submitting relevant documents in court on Monday,” Congress leader and ex-CM Prithviraj Chavan said when asked about the development.


The political battle has entered a crucial phase as Ajit Pawar on Sunday claimed to represent NCP and indicated he was ready for a show of strength. BJP sources said the party is confident NCP MLAs are not as committed to Sharad Pawar as may seem to be the case.

The Aghadi will urge the apex court that guidelines prescribed by it in Karnataka and Uttarkhand should be followed in letter and spirit. In Karnataka, the SC had prescribed a specific time-frame for voting on the confidence motion, while in the Uttarakhand case, it had pointed out that the entire exercise should be conducted under the supervision of the chief secretary and DGP. “For Maharashtra, our plea is that it should be conducted directly under the supervision of apex court,’’ he said.