INDIA. Mumbai: The BJP-Shinde faction Government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde won the Floor-Test in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, defeating the three-party combine Maharashtra Vilkas Aghadi (MVA) Governement by 65 votes on Monday.
The BJP-Shinde faction secured 164 votes against 99 votes bagged by the MVA in a test conducted by raising hands. Shiv Sena MLAs Sanjay Bangar and Shyamsundar Shinde, joined the Shinde faction thus taking the strength of the rebel group to 41 on Monday. It was a show of strength between 41 Shiv Sena rebels versus 14 Uddhav Thackeray loyalists.
Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi and Raees Shaikh and AIMIM MLA Shah Tarikh Anwar abstained from voting.
During the floor test, 10 to 12 MLAs including the Congress MLAs, reached late and the Speaker Rahul Narvekar directed the staff to close the doors of the Vidhan Bhavan lobby. Eventually, the late comers could not remain present in the House during the Floor-test and the MVA strength came down further.
Later the Congress leader Ashok Chavan told the media that as per the procedure, the floor-test is conducted only after the speeches on the motion of confidence and the motion to congratulate the new CM are over. However, in violation of rules, the doors of the Vidhan Bhavan lobby were closed before the members could reach and the floor test was conducted.
Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu said that the BJP was trampling the democratic norms. The issue of disqualification of MLAs is already pending in the Supreme Court and the matter will be heard on July 11. Yet all of a sudden, the state legislature secretariat issued a letter on Sunday night cancelling his appointment as the whip of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party (SLP). This was a pressure tactic and the murder of democracy, he added.
Shiv Sena MLA Aditya Thackeray, who too reached at eleventh hour said that the BJP was trying to disintegrate the Shiv Sena by using these types of unfair means. But the party will tide over all the difficulties and will emerge stronger once again.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil said that if 4 to 5 MLAs defect, then it could be described as a rebellion. But when 40 odd MLAs cross the floor it is an uprising. It was displeasure against the coterie around “Matoshri”.
In the Assembly the Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (BJP), Ajit Pawar (NCP), Balasaheb Thorat (Congress), and others spoke on the confidence motion. Fadnavis referred to the new government as the “BJP-Shiv Sena alliance” Government.
Shinde in his speech invoked Shiv Sena patriarch late Balasaheb Thackeray and Thane strongman Dharmvir Anand Dighe. He said that he could reach this position only because of the blessings of Balasaheb Thackeray and Dharmveer Anand Dighe. Over 33 countries have taken note of the development in Maharashtra.
“The Shiv Sena is my family and I made every effort to expand it. I am not a traitor. I am not happy that Uddhav Thackeray resigned. But all these efforts are aimed at restoring the party to its original position since it was going adrift due to its alliance with the ideologically different parties”
Bhaskar Jadhav (Shiv Sena) in his speech, lambasted the BJP saying that on one hand it was talking of ideology and was harassing opposition by instituting the inquiries by Enforcement Directorate against them on the other. This was an attempt to compel them to cross the floor.
“ The situation in Maharashtra was like a war of Panipat. Due to the infighting in Maratha ranks, the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur was benefitted. Jadhav equated the Maharashtra situation also to the epic “Mahabharat” and described the political situation as a battleground-“Kurukshetra”. All these are attempts made to decimate the Shiv Sena. But such attempts will never be successful” Jadhav added.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Patil said that if 4 to 5 MLAs defect, then it could be described as a rebellion. But when 40 odd MLAs cross the floor it is an uprising. It was displeasure against the coterie around “Matoshri”.
During the association with MVA, the Shiv Sena’s position came down to the number four position. When we tried to reach Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray, he was not accessible. Now, this new Government is an attempt to salvage the loss, that Shiv Sena suffered, he added.
Samajwadi Party MLA Raees Shaikh said that the MVA Government had neglected the problems confronting the minorities. The funds worth Rs 150 crore were distributed but the money never reached the right hands. The minorities Commission and Urdu Academy remain neglected. He urged chief Minister Shinde to do justice to the minorities.
Hitendra Thakur (BVA) urged Shinde to do something to improve rail/road infrastructure in the Vasai-Virar belt (outskirts of Mumbai) since there is a tremendous increase in the population in that area. “We are a group of 29 (Independents and smaller parties) in the Assembly and you will have to pay attention to our grievances,” he added.
In the meanwhile, the Uddhav Thackeray camp of Shiv Sena on Monday mentioned before the Supreme Court, the matter relating to Maharashtra political crisis objecting to how the newly elected speaker recognized the new whip appointed by the Eknath Shinde camp.
The matter was mentioned by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi before a bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheswari. Still, the bench said that the matter will be heard on July 11 along with other cases related to the Maharashtra crisis already pending before the top court.
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