The newly sworn-in Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis cabinet in Maharashtra won the vote of confidence on Monday, dealing a severe blow to Uddhav Thackeray. Aside from BJP, Shiv Sena, minor parties, and Independent MLAs, the ruling alliance also received support from Uddhav camp MLA Santosh Bangar and PWPI representative Shyamsundar Shinde. This means that 40 of Sena’s 55 MLAs are now working with the government.
The opposition, on the other hand, received just 99 votes, eight fewer than it received in the Speaker’s election the day before. Meanwhile, two Samajwadi Party MLAs, Abu Asim Azmi and Rais Shaikh, and one AIMIM MLA, Shah Faruque Anwar, voted no. This development will bring stability to the incoming government while simultaneously raising new concerns for the Shiv Sena supremo’s hold over the party.
Prep for the floor test
The Eknath Shinde-led administration earned a significant boost on July 3 when BJP’s Rahul Narwekar was chosen Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly. While he received 164 votes, just 107 MLAs supported MVA candidate Rajan Salvi. A total of 11 MLAs, including 7 NCP legislators, were absent during the voting session in the Assembly. In yet another setback for the Uddhav Thackeray group, Narwekar reinstalled the Maharashtra Chief Minister as Sena Legislative Party leader and authorised the nomination of Bharat Gogawale as party chief whip in lieu of Sunil Prabhu.
In a last-ditch effort to escape humiliation in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the Thackeray camp petitioned the Supreme Court only minutes before today’s floor test. It questioned newly-elected Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision to re-elect Shinde as Chief Whip. Senior counsel and Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi brought this petition before the Supreme Court’s vacation bench, which included Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari.
Post Your Comments