The theatre of the absurd being played out in Maharashtra ever since the BJP failed to get a majority in the election, whose results were announced more than a month ago, has ended with the Supreme Court verdict given on November 26, 2019, ordering a floor test the next day. It is agreed that the ruling party, led by the Modi-Shah duo, has scored a self-goal by losing Maharashtra in this melodramatic manner.
Does this mean that the parabolic trajectory of Modi’s popularity has crossed the highest point and has started to descend? Perhaps, it has. But it is too soon to be certain about it. Modi, the most crafty political thespian that the sub-continent has seen after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, might confound his detractors and adversaries again and again.
The Supreme Court’s judgment, ordering a speedy floor test, is welcome. However, the Court could have very well done it on Sunday (24 November) itself when it heard the case. The Court asked for the original letters to the Governor claiming a majority and his letter to Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar to come for swearing in to be produced the next day, even as the Union Government asked for more time. However, a more diligent Court could have asked for these letters to be produced once it got the complaint from the three political parties in the state questioning the Governor’s bizarre appointment of Fadnavis as Chief Minister in the early morning of the 23 November.
To recall briefly, on 22 November, the B.J.P. leader Fadnavis and NCP (National Congress Party) legislative party leader Ajit Pawar told the Governor that they had the necessary majority to form the government. The governor, apparently, decided to forego diligence as he, violating his duty as a constitutional authority, was in a hurry to promote the interest of the party he once belonged to.
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