India’s Top Court Refuses to Set Aside Maharashtra Government

(Bloomberg) -- India’s top court ruled that the previous government of Maharashtra, the country’s wealthiest state, cannot be reinstated, a respite for the current ruling alliance that has the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party.

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A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud Thursday said former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s government cannot be reinstated because he resigned before facing a floor test in the assembly.

Present Chief Minister Eknath Shinde led a rebel group of lawmakers who broke away from then in power Shiv Sena party in June 2022 and formed a government by sharing power with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Separately, India’s election commission recognized Shinde’s faction as the legitimate Shiv Sena and allowed them to use the party’s election symbol.

Thackeray’s resignation and Shinde’s takeover triggered a spate of court petitions on the legality of how the new state government was formed.

Thursday’s court order is a relief to Modi’s party ahead of national elections due next year because control of Maharashtra is key to the prime minister’s push to attract foreign investment and revitalize the nation’s manufacturing base.

Maharashtra’s state capital Mumbai, a city of 20 million people, is home to companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and Tata Group, India’s two main stock markets, and the country’s film industry.

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