Maharashtra: A govt formed at night, will cease to be at night, says NCP's Jayant Patil

Taking a jibe at the newly formed BJP-NCP alliance in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil on Monday said that the government which was formed at night will cease to be at night as well. Pulling the biggest surprise in Maharashtra politics, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the presence of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhawan on Saturday, while NCP's Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as his deputy. 

"A government that was formed at night, will cease to be at night. Only the Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) and Deputy Chief Minister (Ajit Pawar) are there in the government, so they are meeting each other. They will divide all the portfolios among themselves," Patil said.

Several leaders, including Jayant Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal from NCP and Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde, visited the NCP MLAs who are staying at Hyatt hotel here. This comes as MLAs of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are staying at different hotels in the city in a bid to prevent horsetrading by the BJP. 

Furthermore, Eknath Shinde, who was earlier speculated to be the CM candidate asserted that Sena-NCP will form a strong government as the respective party chiefs have already spoken to the MLAs.

"We will form a strong and stable government in the state. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackerey have spoken to the MLAs. They told them that Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress have the majority and will soon form a government which will work for the welfare of the people," Shinde said.

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SC hearing on the matter

Following a crucial hearing on the legality of Maharashtra Government formation on Sunday, the Supreme court has directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre, to produce the following letters at 10.30 am tomorrow- 

- Governor's order on November 23, inviting Devendra Fadnavis to form a government

- The letter of  Devendra Fadnavis to the Governor claiming a majority

A three-judge SC bench heard the petition of the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP on Sunday at 11.30 AM, challenging Maharashtra Governor’s decision to invite Devendra Fadnavis for government formation. The Justice Ramana-led SC bench further said that it will pass appropriate orders on Monday morning following the submission of the letters sought by the court. Plea for an immediate floor test will be considered after considering the order of the Governor. Towards this, notice was issued to the Centre, Maharashtra govt, CM Fadnavis and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

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(With inputs from ANI)