Former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had a contentious relationship. As soon as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was established in Maharashtra in 2019, the Shiv Sena broke off its long-standing alliance with the BJP and teamed up with new allies, the Congress Party and the NCP, to form a tripartite government. This caused tension in their relationship.
Within seven months of the inception of the administration, a letter war between Koshyari and Thackeray started as a result of this tension reaching enormous dimensions. The conflict originally erupted in 2019 when Sharad Pawar, the NCP leader and Ajit Pawar’s uncle, attempted to put together a tripartite coalition in the state with the assistance of the NCP. When the President’s control in Maharashtra was lifted and the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister in an early morning coup, Koshyari was the target of the united Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray.
The first significant disagreement between these two constitutional leaders surfaced in April 2020 when Koshyari declined to accept the state cabinet’s suggestion to appoint Thackeray to the Maharashtra Legislative Council. When he took the oath of office as chief minister, he was neither a member of the Legislative Council or the Legislative Assembly. As a result, in order to maintain his position as chief minister, he was required by law to join one of the Houses within six months.
Nine Legislative Council members retired in the meantime, leaving these positions vacant. The Covid-19 epidemic prevented the holding of elections for these seats. Every six years, the governor names 12 people from a variety of professions, including literature, social service art, education, theater, etc., to the Legislative Council. These 12 chairs were also empty. He had been suggested for nomination to the Council as the governor’s nominee by the Thackeray-led government. Koshyari refused to abide with the cabinet’s advice. The governor and the administration were at a standstill. Only after Thackeray had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah was a solution found.
Koshyari wrote to the Election Commission requesting that elections be held for the nine seats that had become empty owing to members’ retirements, setting aside nominations for the 12 seats he would be nominating himself for. The political parties all agreed to stop running against one another. The NCP, Shiv Sena, and Congress Party each received two seats, giving the BJP a total of four seats. As a member of the Legislative Council, Thackeray was chosen.
The fight went on. Koshyari continued to reject the list of 12 candidates submitted to him to serve as his appointees, claiming that they did not meet the requirements.
When the horrifying Sakinaka rape case made news in September 2021. Between then-Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and then-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, a letter war had broken out. The Maharashtra Legislature should have a two-day special session to examine crimes against women, the Governor had urged to Thackeray in his letter. In his response, Thackeray highlighted atrocities against women in the BJP-ruled states of Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand as well as Delhi, where the central government maintains law and order. Thackeray has asked the Governor to send letters to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting that a four-day session of Parliament be called to examine the atrocities.
In a meeting with Koshyari, a BJP delegation headed by the head of the Women’s Wing Chitra Wagh urged that a special meeting be organized to address the rise in crimes against women. This demand was replicated in Koshyari’s letter to Thackeray. Thackeray said in his four-page statement that the Governor’s decision to back the opposition’s demand “threatens Parliamentary democracy.” He had further said in his writing that the Governor’s approach would “create new disputes”.
On the subject of reopening the temples after the Covid-19 shutdown, the then-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and the then-governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari engaged in a letter battle in October 2020. They would be opened once the Covid-19 situation was more favorable, Thackeray had said.
Even worse, the then-governor publicly disagreed with the ruling party at the time and took a firm stance on a number of topics. Koshyari would call in officials and bureaucrats for briefings at Raj Bhavan. Through Zoom sessions, he would communicate directly with district collectors and other stakeholders to get updates on the Covid-19 situation in the districts. He would also inform them of the necessary course of action. The authorities and bureaucrats were in a pickle because they were getting different directions from the governor and the chief minister.
As the Chancellor of the Universities, Koshyari vetoed the Thackeray-led government’s decision to cancel the college final year exams. The administration attempted to enact an ordinance that would limit the governor’s authority as chancellor. Then there was the episode with Kangana Ranaut, an outspoken opponent of Thackeray, his administration, and governance. Parts of Ranaut’s office were destroyed by the then-Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which had been declared to be a “encroachment” by the local government. Ranaut, who is from Uttarakhand like Koshyari, a former chief minister of that state, was called to Raj Bhavan by Koshyari, and they spoke for a considerable amount of time. Thackeray was furious thereafter.
Eknath Shinde, a prominent minister at the time and the head of the Shiv Sena, resigned with 40 other MLAs, turning the government into a minority as a result of the violent dispute between the two. While the court case involving Thackeray’s disqualification suit against Shinde and 16 other people was ongoing, Koshyari requested that Thackeray take a floor test to demonstrate his majority. Koshyari had requested Shinde to join the BJP in forming the state administration after Thackeray resigned before to the floor test. Koshyari was held accountable by Thackeray for the demise of the MVA Government.
