Governor-government tussle gives rise to Peoples 12 drive

With speculations rife that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will go by the rule book and not appoint political leaders to the 12 vacancies in the Legislative Council aspirants from nonpolitical circles are hoping to get the coveted membership to the upper houseSome aspirants and their sympathisers are inventing ways to lobby for Raj Bhavans approval while the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government is getting ready for another battle over constitutional issues in which the governor holds the upper handAspirants include a pioneer of the slum soccer movement whose life journey has been essayed in an upcoming film Jhund starring actor Amitabh Bachchan journalists writers poets social activists etc They have been creating public opinion through social media and have approached ruling parties and Raj Bhavan through formal applications In the 78member house 12 members are appointed every six years by the governor on the Cabinets recommendationAmong the names being suggested are Dr Vijay Barse a football coach and Mahesh Keluskar a poet rightTricky matterGenerally the recommendations are cleared but considering the relations between Raj Bhavan and MVA the matter appears tricky The aspirants hopes are high also because for several years successive governments have flouted a Constitutional provision under Art 1715 of the Constitution under which those with special qualifications and experience in literature science arts cooperative fields and social service etc can be nominated as members of the legislative council The nomination has to be done on the recommendations of the state government Either active members of ruling parties or sympathisers were recommended for membershipHowever in the last six months Koshyari turned down three recommendations for his quota including CM Uddhav Thackerays name When the matter escalated a compromise of holding elections to the regular vacancies was worked out In political circles it is felt that Koshyari may not easily relent this time either and will demand recommendations that fit the Constitutional provision The governorgovernment tussle hasnt stopped yet Recently the two institutions disagreed over university exams The governor wants exams to be held while the CM announced a waiverThis is the chanceWellknown poet Mahesh Keluskar has started a social media campaign challenge12 to get good people appointed and has suggested 12 names Those who satisfy the Constitutional provision should be sent to the upper house However for many years the memberships have been grabbed by political parties I request you to seriously suggest appropriate names on your social media pages and handles Who would you appoint if you were the governor wrote Keluskar in a Facebook post which has received encouraging responsesKeluskars wishlist includes Arjun Dangle and Veena Gawankar literature Chinmayee Sumit and Sambhaji Bhagat performing arts DR Bal Phondke and Mangla Naralikar science Shobha Sawant and Popatrao Pawar cooperative Dr Vishwambhar Choudhari and Uday Lad social service Anjali Bhagwat and Harvardhan Sadgir both sportsAnother person lobbying hard for himself is senior journalist from Pune Arun B Khore The scribe has also suggested other names that surprisingly include Congress spokesperson and general secretary Sachin Sawant BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari RPI leader Avinash Mahatekar and Laxman Gaikwad who had been an MLC from NCPThese spokespersons deserve a place in the house because they have been working for their parties against criticism Khore said in a Facebook post However a political leader said no government would in its wildest dreams recommend a member of the opposition party BJPs BhandariFootball coach from Nagpur Dr Vijay Barse finds himself suitable for the membership because of his work in the slum soccer movement My work of taking Indias slum children to the international slum soccer world speaks for itself said Barse who was nominated as a Nagpur civic corporator by Congress in 2012 He has applied to the Congress leadership and appealed to Raj BhavanWhats cooking in the MVAThe MVA is expected to recommend the 12 names soon But before that the three partners will have to fix their respective share which is expected to be four each Several Shiv Sena NCP and Congress leaders are eying the membership which doesnt involve expensive elections Sources said aspirants were at their wits end and redoing biodatas to fit the conditions of social work and cooperative fieldsAs far as processing the Cabinets recommendation is concerned the Raj Bhavan has asserted its authority in the past The new appointments can also be delayed as there is no provision of urgency for the permanent house of the legislature said a Congress leaderMonsoon session deferred to AugustThe monsoon session of the state legislature will be held in Mumbai from August 3 instead of June 22 The decision comes after the legislative business advisory meeting on Wednesday We realised that sitting in the session from June 22 wasnt possible because of the COVID situation said CM Uddhav Thackeray Sources said various options were considered before the meetingOfficials were told to explore an online session and cut it short to reduce workload if held in Mumbai However it was decided that the business can wait till August with the hope that the situation may easeOpposition leader in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP supports the governments decision We are also ready if the government decides to hold a special daylong session to get supplementary demands approved he saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news