Maharashtra Governor was wary of horse-trading

Governor B S Koshiyari decided against the "misadventure of having a floor test" to avoid the "eminent possibilities" of horse trading and corruption to garner support by parties, which failed to form a government that enjoys the confidence of the Assembly, his report to the President recommending central rule in Maharashtra has said.

In an interesting observation, Koshiyari also made an apparent reference to the poaching of leaders before the elections in Maharashtra where a number of Congress and NCP leaders moved to BJP and Shiv Sena and vice versa and said this “cannot be simply overlooked” if one goes for a floor test.

The report, accessed by DH, sent on November 12 hours before the imposition of President's Rule also gave reasons why he denied Congress with 44 MLAs an opportunity to stake its claim like BJP (105 MLAs), Shiv Sena (56) and NCP (54) by saying it was “almost impossible” for the party to form a government “unless of course illegal and unconstitutional means are adopted as also recourse is taken to unethical, unlawful and therefore forbidden methods”.

It also brings out facts that are so far not in public domain, which includes former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking "additional one day time" to respond to the Governor's letter asking him to inform in two days whether BJP was willing to form a government, which was was rejected.

The 13-page report also refers to an apparent goof-up by Sena leaders on November 11 when they met Koshiyari to apprise him about the claim to form a government by handing over a letter seeking his appointment. The letter, it said, appeared to have been prepared earlier for delivering to him in advance but was submitted in person and this did not have a “claim to form the government” as such has not been made.

On floor test, the report said was “neither feasible nor practical and would largely be an academic exercise” as the ground situation revealed.

“Moreover, I am alive to the fact that in case of such a misadventure of having a floor test there are eminent possibilities of horse trading, corruption and other illegal means being adopted by concerned persons to garner support, which in my view must be ruled out under any circumstances and at any cost. In this regard, the developments that have occurred on the eve of the aforesaid election of shifting prominent political leaders from one political party to another cannot simply be overlooked,” it said.

This runs contrary to claims of senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials that the Governor had not expressly mentioned any concern about horse-trading and his conclusions were based on the fact that no party was in a position to form the government.

On NCP, the Governor said it had categorically told him that it was “not able and willing” to make a claim for forming the government by November 12 and wanted three more days for consultations. However, Koshiyari noted, “already more than 15 days was available even with NCP.”

Giving reasons for not inviting Congress, he said BJP, Shiv Sena, which claimed support of eight independents, and NCP together had 223 MLAs out of 288-member Assembly. Of the remaining 65 MLAs, Congress had just 44 and it was “obvious and crystal clear” it “can never form a majority government”.

“It is needless to mention here itself that the difference between 65 and 145 (majority mark) is too large and too vast, which is almost impossible to bridge unless of course illegal and unconstitutional means are adopted as also recourse is taken to unethical, unlawful and therefore forbidden methods,” it said. The Congress also through a press statement had remarked that it was neither staking claim nor supporting any party, it said.

The report, which is a blow-by-blow account of the unravelling of the Maharashtra crisis, said that all his attempts to explore formation of a government had "unfortunately...failed", as even after the lapse of 17 days, none of the parties made a claim, "much less a stable government by demonstrating even prima facie that they enjoy the support of at least 145 newly elected members".

The Governor also noted that the media reports that included interviews and press conferences also suggested the same. He also referred to "repeated meetings, some of them very lengthy, have been taking place at various venues throughout the country, including Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur for several days” among leaders.

The report said that leaders of BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress had met him several times post October 24, when the election results were declared, to raise issues related to farmers and never brought the issue of government formation.