BJP activist files plea in SC against Sena-Congress-NCP alliance, terms it against people's mandate

MUMBAI: A local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist in Mumbai has filed a plea in the Supreme Court against the post-poll alliance of the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress in the state of Maharashtra calling the alliance as an "unholy one" and against the "mandate of the people".

This comes even as the three parties met on Friday to finalise the discussions on terms of government formation in the state.

BJP activist Surendra Bahadur Singh in his plea contended that voters had given a clear mandate to the BJP-Sena alliance. "The present petition seeks to stop the unholy alliance between three political parties which have all fought against each other but is trying to form a government by joining hands thereby defeating the electoral mandate," said the plea.

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The petitioner further requested the apex court to give orders to restrain Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari from inviting representatives of the NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress to form a government against the popular mandate.

As an alternative, if a government is formed against the mandate of the people, it can be declared as unconstitutional, void ab initio and therefore, liable to be dismissed, the plea said.

"If a coalition of Shiv Sena with the political parties against which it contested the election is allowed to form a government, the same will result in dilution of the mandate of the public and is against constitutional ethos," added the plea.

Singh said that there is a larger question before the court: "Whether the expression includes a group of parties that contested against each other and fought election expressly against each other in terms of ideology, policies, propaganda and manifesto?"

(with inputs from IANS)