Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA and former minister Jitendra Awhad on Monday said the party would be publishing 50,000 booklets explaining the Supreme Court verdict on Maharashtra political crisis, which would be distributed across the state. "The court order is crystal clear. It has termed the present Eknath Shinde-led government as illegal. The Chief Minister should resign on moral grounds, if at all there is any morality left in him. It is clear that there is no place for morality and ethics in this government. Therefore, it is important to approach the masses directly and tell them the truth about the order," said Awhad while speaking at a seminar organised at Y B Chavan Center. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and party's state unit chief Jayant Patil also attended the seminar on the Supreme Court order over the disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court passed a unanimous decision regarding the split in Shiv Sena. Although it did not pass any definite order on the disqualification of MLAs, the apex court said that it could not reinstate the previous MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray as he had resigned from the post of CM without facing a floor test. The court said that then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was not justified in calling for a floor test and also cracked down on Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena group as it had appointed Bharat Gogawale as the whip of the party in an 'illegal manner'. Ahwad said the party will be publishing 50,000 booklets to apprise people about the matter. "Similar programmes will be organised across the state to make people aware about the order.," he said adding that it is important to tell people of the state how the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government was dethroned using 50 boxes of money. The SC has also given authority to the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly to take a call on the disqualification of MLAs. According to the NCP, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Rahul Narvekar will have to give his verdict on the disqualification petitions by August 2023. Awhad said the order of the Supreme Court becomes the last word for any possible splits anywhere in the country or in the state. "If it happens in Maharashtra, it will be Jayant Patil who will have the authority to appoint the whip and it will be Jayant Patil who will have the authority to appoint the legislative group leader," he said.
