As the MLC election in Maharashtra got cancelled due to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the state government on Thursday (April 9) passed a resolution urging Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to appoint Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as an MLC.
Notably, Uddhav Thackeray is currently not a member of the state assembly and as per the Consitution a chief minister must become a member of state assembly within six months of taking office. Since, Uddhav Thackeray took oath as Maharashtra CM on November 28, 2019, he must take oath as MLC before the end of six-month period on May 28 or else he may have to resign.
Talking to Zee Media, Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik said that since the meeting was held to recommend Uddhav Thackeray's name for MLC, he was absent from meeting. Malik added that the meeting was chaired instead by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
“There are two vacant MLC posts which the Governor appoints, and the Cabinet requested Thackeray be appointed as the MLC,” he said.
“Thackeray purposely did not attend the meeting as pre-decided by three parties since the Cabinet decision was regarding recommending him as an MLC,” Malik noted.
Maharashtra is currently governed by Shiv Sena-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition which came to power in 2019 after intense political drama.
Maharashtra has been worst hit by coronavirus cases as it has a total of 1,135 cases. As many as 72 people have died in the state due to the deadly virus.
