Bombay High Court directs BMC to accept Rutuja Latke’s resignation

As the High Court decided in favour of Thackeray Sena's Rutuja Latke on Thursday and asked the BMC to relieve her of her duties by 11 am on Friday, the BJP and Shinde Sena were forced to strategise their next move. They were supposed to meet on Thursday night to decide whether to go ahead with BJP's candidate-in-waiting Murji Patel as either BJP's or Shinde Sena's nominee or go for any other surprise move. Friday, October 14, is the last date for filing nomination for the Andheri East bypoll.

The other option that was supposedly suggested by the Thackeray Sena was to let Latke win unopposed - let her be alone in the fray and avoid any further clashes. Apparently, sources said, the Thackeray Sena tried to play a mindgame in conveying after the HC decision that it had landed in a better position to snatch a win for the deceased MLA's widow against the BJP, if it put its candidate instead of Shinde Sena.

Rutuja Latke at BMC headquarters on Wednesday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Defeat for any party, especially the BJP, is expected to be a negative development in the run-up to the BMC polls, said a Sena leader. BJP leaders said the final decision would be taken on Thursday night and implemented the next day. "The BJP has a strong voter base and organisational strength to win the bypoll," said a leader, requesting anonymity. The leader also talked of another option: "Field an independent and back him."

Also Read: BMC fell flat on its face: Uddhav faction on HC relief for Rutuja Latke

Accept Latke's resignation, HC tells BMC

The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Mumbai civic body to accept the resignation of Rutuja Latke, the candidate of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) for the upcoming Andheri East Assembly bypoll. A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sharmila Deshmukh said the use or non-use of discretion by the BMC commissioner in taking a decision on her resignation was "arbitrary".

Last month, Thackeray got relief from the high court after the BMC didn't act on his faction's application for permission to hold his Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park. The bench directed the competent authority of the BMC to accept Latke's resignation and issue an appropriate letter by 11 am on Friday. This would pave way for Latke to file her nominations for the bypoll.

"She [Latke] is your [BMC] employee...You should be helping her out," the court said. Earlier in the day, her counsel Vishwajeet Sawant had told the court that she is a clerk and has no pending dues or enquiries. The last date for filing the nomination papers for the November 3 by-election is October 14. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Latke's husband and MLA Ramesh Latke in May.