The political landscape in Maharashtra is on the verge of significant upheaval with the eagerly anticipated Supreme Court ruling on the disqualification plea of 16 MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena likely to come up on Thursday.
As the leaders of the Shinde faction display signs of nervous anticipation, their alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains hopeful that the top court’s outcome will not have much impact on the current government. One of the five judges of the Constitution Bench, Justice Mukeshkumar Rasikbhai Shah, will retire on May 15.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior BJP leader said that two plausible outcomes are widely speculated with one being the Court disqualifying the legislators in question, including Mr. Shinde, which would necessitate the former’s immediate resignation. The second possible scenario is the Supreme Court referring the matter back to the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly to take appropriate action, he said.
