Former Maharashtra Guv Bhagat Singh Koshyari meets incumbent Guv Ramesh Bais

File Photo

Days after the Supreme Court of India termed as unjustified former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision to ask the Uddhav Thackeray government to prove its majority on the floor of the House, he on Tuesday met incumbent Governor of the state Ramesh Bais at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai.

The meeting between Governor Bais and Koshyari was a courtesy call, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.

Koshyari had asked the Uddhav Thackeray government to prove majority after a rebellion by a section of Shiv Sena MLAs led by incumbent chief minister Eknath Shinde. The top court observed that governors have no power to enter the political arena or take part in any intra-party or inter-party disputes.

The communication expressing discontent on the part of some MLAs is not sufficient for the governor to call for a floor test, the court had observed.

Also read: Mumbai: Gang in their 50s strike in Vikhroli house, held from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh

The governor ought to apply his mind to the communication or any other material before him to assess whether the government seemed to have lost the confidence of the House," the court said, while assessing Koshyari's role in the political crisis that led to the fall of the Thackeray-led government last year.

"The floor test cannot be used as a medium to resolve internal party dispute or intra-party disputes" by the governor, the court had said, but ruled that the status quo ante cannot be restored because Thackeray did not face the floor test and tendered his resignation. (With inputs from PTI)