Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde to suggest 12 experts for state legislative council

MUMBAI: The state cabinet recently authorized chief minister Eknath Shinde to recommend to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari the names of 12 experts for nomination on the state legislative council.
According to a senior official, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis submitted in Tuesday's cabinet meeting that Shinde is authorized to make recommendations to the governor on the appointments of experts to the council. Under Article 171 of the constitution, the governor has powers to appoint experts from the fields of literature, science, cooperation and sports on the legislative council.
While the posts were lying vacant for a long period, when Uddhav Thackeray was chief minister, the state cabinet had on November 6, 2020 recommended to the governor names of 12 eminent persons, including senior Congress leaders Rajani Patil, Sachin Sawant, NCP's Eknath Khadse, farmers' leader Raju Shetty and actor Urmila Matondkar for appointment on the council.
A delegation comprising Nawab Malik, Anil Parab and Amit Deshmukh had then submitted the recommendations made by the state cabinet to Koshyari. Significantly after the proposal was submitted to the governor and even after Ajit Pawar raised the matter with PM Narendra Modi, there was no response from the governor. Even the Bombay high court had observed that such appointments should be made in a reasonable time.
In the meanwhile, Rajani Patil was elected to the Rajya Sabha, while Eknath Khadse was elected to the legislative council; farmers' leader Raju Shetty said he was not keen on nomination on the legislative council.
According to the senior official, two separate proposals will now be brought before the cabinet. The first proposal submitted by Thackeray will be withdrawn and a fresh proposal will be submitted to the governor. According to reports, more than 30 leading politicians, about 25 from BJP and 10 from the rebel Shiv Sena group, are vying for nomination. The big challenge before both Shinde and Fadnavis will be to recommend apolitical persons from different walks of life.