Fadnavis went to Governor with support of 170 MLAs: Advocate Mukul Rohatgi tells SC

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, on Monday said that the latter approached Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari with the support of 170 MLAs to form the government, following which President Rule was revoked and he was sworn-in.

"NCP through Ajit Pawar wrote a letter with 54 MLAs signature support. I went to Governor with [support of] 170 MLAs to form the government and my claim was accepted. Thereafter, President Rule was revoked and I was sworn in," Rohatgi said while representing Fadnavis.

A bench of Justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan, and Sanjiv Khanna was hearing a petition filed by Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress against the decision taken by the Maharastra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to invite BJP and NCP to form the government in the state.

"One Pawar is with them (Sharad Pawar), one Pawar is with me [Ajit Pawar], it may be a family feud. It is not me indulging in horse-trading, they are. The three parties tried horse-trading and accusing the same price on us," Rohatgi further told the bench.

In a special hearing yesterday, the top court had asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to produce relevant documents including Maharashtra Governor's letter inviting BJP to form the government and letter of support of MLAs today.

This came after the BJP formed the government on Saturday morning when Devendra Fadnavis took oath for the second consecutive term as the state Chief Minister, with NCP's Ajit Pawar as his Deputy Chief Minister.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal represented Shiv Sena and his colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented Congress-NCP in the apex court. Maharashtra BJP unit was represented by Mukul Rohatgi.

BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats, 54 seats went to NCP while Congress secured 44 seats in the 288-member Assembly.