MUMBAI, NOV 8: The political future of senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Datta Meghe and Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Gangadhar Gade could be in a bit of a problem as they have been inducted into the Cabinet without becoming members of either the State Assembly or the Legislative Council.In the third expansion of the Cabinet, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had inducted Meghe as Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, while Gade was sworn in as Minister of State for Transport.As per the Constitution, it is obligatory for a member of the Cabinet to get elected to either of the Houses within six months of taking the oath of office.In what can only be termed a peculiar situation, none of the sitting legislators either from the Upper House or Lower House are prepared to quit for Meghe and Gade. And even if someone does agree, there is absolutely no guarantee that they will get elected to the Lower House. ``In the Lok Sabha polls, Meghe, who was elected for three successive terms, was relegated to the third position in the Wardha Parliamentary constituency,'' an NCP leader said.Under such circumstances, if Meghe and Gade are unable to get themselves elected either to the Upper House or the Lower House, they will have to resign from the Cabinet for legal reasons. As both of them took the oath on October 26, they have to get elected to either House before April 26 next year.``If the NCP leadership insists on their continuation in the Cabinet, we will have to give them a break for a day and reinduct them into the Cabinet so that they will be able to continue for another six months,'' the NCP leader added.As per official records, two seats of the Upper House are lying vacant following the resignations of Kripashankar Singh and Vasudha Deshmukh. While Deshmukh has been elected to the Lower House from Amravati, Singh, was elected from Santacruz. Subsequently, both were inducted into the Cabinet as ministers of state for public works and home respectively.However, their terms in the Upper House expires in July next year and it is unlikely that the Election Commission will hold byelections just for seven months. ``The EC generally holds byelections if the period for the general election is more than one year. The commission is against holding elections for periods shorter than a year,'' a senior official said.According to the NCP leader, when Meghe and Gade were inducted into the Cabinet, all these aspects were considered and at one stage, it was even decided that such persons should not be inducted into the Cabinet as it would create fresh problems for the government.``Since Meghe belongs to the NCP and Gade to the RPI, it is the responsibility of the respective parties to ensure that they are elected before the stipulated period,'' he added.
