Pune: A senior ECI official on Tuesday dubbed Shiv Sena (UBT) politician Sanjay Raut's allegations about a possibility of President's rule in Maharashtra after the assembly election as "constitutionally unfounded and baseless".
Raut had on Sunday alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had scheduled state election in a manner to restrict MVA from forming govt effectively.
"The 48-hour window between vote counting and govt formation is a deliberate ploy to prevent MVA from staking a claim...If MVA constituents fail to stake a claim in two days, governor will recommend President's rule for six months," Raut, Sena (UBT)'s RS member, had said.
The official told TOI that ECI's sole responsibility was to conduct elections and submit the list of elected MLAs to governor, as per Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 and Article 172(1) of Constitution.
"While the counting of votes will conclude on Nov 23, the poll process will be completed well before the assembly's term end date (Nov 26). Therefore, the allegations by Raut on President's rule are completely baseless and lack understanding of constitutional provisions," the official said.
ECI sources emphasised that governor's powers to invite party or parties for govt formation were not restricted by the assembly's term end date. "After the list of newly elected MLAs is submitted, the governor can call for govt formation, within his mandated constitutional duties as per Article 164 of Constitution, which is not bound by the assembly's term end date. The relevance of Nov 26 is only for the completion of election process by the ECI," a source said.
Constitutional expert Ulhas Bapat said President's rule would only be necessary post-Nov 26 if no clear majority emerged among the parties or alliances. "If there's a clear winner on Nov 23, the governor can either ask the current chief minister to continue till Nov 26 or serve as caretaker if he resigns before the term of the assembly ends. New govt can be formed by Nov 27, with two days being sufficient for the process," he told TOI.
The state goes to polls on Nov 20. Bapat said if there were no clear winners and the state administration was not carried according to the provisions of the Constitution, Article 356 or president's rule could be imposed.