Sources said the BJP was earlier eyeing 8 berths with plans to give 4 to the Sena. However, with the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP now joining the government, a new 6-3-3 formula has been worked out. With both the Sena and Ajit Pawar faction expected to get three berths each, it is likely that they may use the berths to woo more leaders from the Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction to switch over.
State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, however, said that no formula had been decided for the 12 Governor quota MLCs. “There was a meeting of 12 leaders, four from each of the three parties, for coordination. This issue was not discussed. So there is no question of any discussion taking place outside,” Bawankule said.
A senior bureaucrat said that Article 171 (5) of the Constitution of India says that those nominated as MLCs from the Governor’s quota must possess “special knowledge or practical experience” in literature, science, art, co-operative movement and social service. However, the Article doesn’t mandate that out of the 12 nominees, there must be one each from the 5 categories. While poets and writers and even journalists have been nominated to the council from this quota, it is now usually used for accommodating political nominees.
In Maharashtra, of the total 78 members of the Legislative Council, 31 are elected by members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), 21 by elected representatives from local authorities (like BMC), 12 are nominated by the Governor, and seven each are elected by graduates and teachers from Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Aurangabad, Nagpur, and Amravati divisions.
“If the names doing the rounds get nominated, then personalities from arts and culture will be nominated after a long time. Of late, the Governor’s quota became a way to give a backdoor entry to netas. It will be a welcome change to see real artists getting a berth in the state’s upper house,” a political observer said.
