Shiv Sena goes on front foot; takes attacking line amid SC developments

Shiv Sena spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi targeted an attack at the government and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta after the Supreme Court sought two key letters that preceded the sensational swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra CM and Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM.

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Sena's dig at the Government

In a tweet after the hearing concluded, Chaturvedi said, "The government was formed overnight, sworn in secretly and now the lawyer needed time to show support statistics. The dilemma of the government's counsel and the plea to form the government is clear!". The Indian National Congress (INC), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking for an urgent hearing after Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister.

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Twice during the course of the hearing, the Solicitor General said that he was present because notice was issued to him late on Saturday night and that he did not know who he was representing on what grounds. At the end of the hearings, the three-judge bench of the SC comprising of Justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna asked Maharashtra CM Fadnavis to produce a letter showing that he had a majority and also asked the Governor to produce the letter where he invited Fadnavis to form the government.

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The Apex Court also issued notices to the Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, the Union of India and the State Government of Maharashtra. Mehta has to produce the letters by 10:30 am on Monday morning, when the next hearing will take place. 

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