Maharashtra Live: CM Eknath Shinde Wins Floor Test, NCP's Ajit Pawar Elected LoP
Eknath Shinde-BJP government proved majority in the Maharashtra Assembly floor test on Monday.
The Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata government on Monday, 4 July, proved majority in the Assembly floor test and crossed the midway mark (144) after getting 164 votes in their favour.
(Photo: PTI)
Maharashtra Government Floor Test Live News Updates: Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar on Monday, 4 July, was elected as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Maharashtra Assembly.
Earlier in the day, the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government proved majority in the Assembly floor test and crossed the midway mark (144) after getting 164 votes in their favour.
A total of 99 votes were cast it.
After the floor test, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis congratulated Shinde and said, "I've come back today and brought him (Eknath Shinde) along with me. I won't take revenge on people who mocked me. I'll forgive them, everything isn't taken to heart in politics."
Meanwhile, Bharat Gogawale, newly appointed chief whip of Shiv Sena, from the rebel faction, on Monday, gave a petition to the Assembly Speaker for the suspension of 16 MLAs of the party (from the Uddhav Thackeray faction) for violation of the whip.
In a blow to the Thackeray camp, a day before the crucial trust vote, speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, Rahul Narvekar had removed Shiv Sena MLA Ajay Chaudhary as the legislative party leader.
A letter issued by the speaker’s office reinstated the new Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as the Shiv Sena's legislative party leader and also recognised the appointment of Bharat Gogawale as the chief whip of the Sena, removing Sunil Prabhu on Sunday
The trust vote was held in the Assembly, the last day of the special two-day session of the House
Several MLAs of Shiv Sena, including Aaditya Thackeray, left the House after the trust vote
Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said on Sunday night that since 39 of their MLAs did not obey the party whip, their disqualification has been sought from the new Assembly speaker
However, with the appointment of Bharat Gogawale as the chief whip, the Thackeray faction comprising 16 MLAs will be bound by the whip to be issued by Gogawale for the trust vote
BJP MLA Rahul Narvekar was elected as speaker in the Maharashtra Assembly on Sunday. He was elected with 164 votes
Thackeray had expelled Shinde from the Sena on Saturday
While Shiva Sena has 55 MLAs, the Shinde camp has 39 MLAs whereas the Thackeray group has 16 MLAs. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party has 53 MLAs; Congress has 44, and the BJP has 106 members in the Legislative Assembly.
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‘BJP Is Marching Towards Autocracy’: Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant
Reacting to Sunday's development, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said that his party will challenge this "unconstitutional" decision in court.
Sawant said, “Former Secretary General of Lok Sabha PDT Acharya has given directives that the party leader (chief) has the right to appoint the group leader of the legislative unit of that party. How can you say that (Eknath Shinde) is the (legislative) party leader?"
He added, “We will challenge this decision in court. This is highly unfortunate. The decision is taken on Sunday late night which speaks volumes about how it must have been taken," PTI reported.
He further claimed that the decision amounts to trampling the Constitution and democratic norms. "The BJP is marching towards autocracy,” Sawant said.
‘Government May Fall in the Next Six Months’: Sharad Pawar
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday claimed that the Eknath Shinde-BJP government may fall in the next six months.
While addressing NCP legislators and other leaders of the party, he said, "The newly formed government in Maharashtra may fall in the next six months, hence all should be ready for mid-term polls."
Shiv Sena Calls Meeting of District Chiefs
Shiv Sena has called a meeting of all its district chiefs on Monday afternoon at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai.
Chief Whip of Sena Gives Petition to Speaker for Suspension of 16 MLAs
Bharat Gogawale, chief whip of Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) has given a petition to the Assembly Speaker for the suspension of 16 MLAs (from the Thackeray faction) of the party for violation of whip.
The 16 MLAs will be issued notice for suspension, the Speaker's office confirmed.
‘Shinde-BJP Temporary Arrangement’: Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut cast doubt over the alliance between the BJP and the Shinde faction.
He said, "This is a temporary arrangement, they will not be able to go to people. They were lions in Shiv Sena. Even Kasab didn't have so much security but they had when they reached Mumbai. What are you scared of?"
Speaking on the future of the Shiv Sena, Raut said, as reported by ANI, "Party won't weaken, our oxygen isn't power. We aren't strong because we are in power, we are strong and that's why we are in power. People come and go.They opted to join our party and left due to outside forces. We'll go to villages, will find other workers."
Santosh Bangar, Now Seen With Shinde
Another Shiv Sena MLA of Uddhav Thackeray faction, Santosh Bangar, has now been seen with Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and MLAs of his faction.
Bangar left with the Shinde faction MLAs from hotel and arrived with them at the Assembly on Monday.
Thackeray Camp Challenges New Speaker's Actions in SC
Uddhav Thackeray-led camp of Shiv Sena has moved the Supreme Court challenging the newly appointed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's action of recognising the whip of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde group as the whip of Shiv Sena.
The apex court has posted the matter for hearing on 11 July.
Appearing for the Thackeray group, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, told the Supreme Court that the newly appointed Speaker – Rahul Narvekar – has no jurisdiction to recognise whips and the action is changing the status quo of proceedings before the apex court.
‘We Will 100 Percent Win the Floor Test’: BJP Leader Raosaheb Patil Danve
Union Minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Patil Danve told ANI, "Today is the day of the final test for the Eknath Shinde government of Maharashtra."
He displayed confidence and said, "We will 100 percent win the Maharashtra floor test."
Another MLA Joins Shinde Faction
Another MLA, Shyamsundar Shinde, joined the Shinde group just before the trust vote. Since Sunday, two Shiv Sena MLAs have switched sides.
Shinde Gets 164 Votes in His Favour
Eknath Shinde got 164 votes in his favour during trust vote in the Assembly. Now votes against the trust vote will be counted from the Opposition benches.
Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis Congratulates Shinde
Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis congratulated Shinde after the trust vote.
Fadnavis said, "In politics, everyone should be prepared to listen to adversary's voices. We have seen that people were jailed for making statements and posting on social media. We should be prepared for people speaking against us. We should respond to criticism but in a proper way."
Fadnavis remarked that he had once said that he will come back, but said that several people "mocked" him.
"I've come back today and brought him (Eknath Shinde) along with me. I won't take revenge on people who mocked me. I'll forgive them, everything isn't taken to heart in politics."
"Our alliance had received the mandate but we were deliberately taken away from the majority. But with Eknath Shinde, we have once again formed our government with Shiv Sena. A true shiv sainik has been made the CM. I became the Deputy CM as per my party's command," Fadnavis stated.
He further said that he would have been fine even sitting at home if the party had ordered it.
Two Congress MLAs Reached Assembly After Shinde Proved Majority
Two Maharashtra Congress MLAs, Ashok Chavan and Vijay Wadettiwar, walked into the Assembly only after the Shinde camp proved a comfortable majority.
'Though This Is a Tough Time, It Too Shall Pass’: Saamana
An editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said on Monday that it was not surprising to see the BJP winning the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker's election as the Sena was broken and "someone from the party" was pitted against it.
The editorial added that with the new government in the state, the issue of nomination of 12 MLCs from the governor's quota will also be resolved soon. It added, the old file will be replaced with a new one and it will be cleared by the governor within 24 hours.
If "protectors of the Constitution" take a dual stand, these people can make any resolution and win any election, it said, without taking any name. It added that following the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray from the CM's post, there was no "state of law" left in Maharashtra.
"Though this is a tough time, it too shall pass," the Marathi daily said.
22 MLAs Absent During Floor Test
A total of 22 MLAs remained absent during the floor test on Monday.
This included 10 Congress MLAs – Jitesh Antapurkar, Zeeshan Siddique, Praniti Shinde, Ashok Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar, Dhiraj Deshmukh, Kunal Patil, Raju Awale, Mohanrao Hambarde, and Shirish Chaudhari.
Uddhav Thackeray Arrives at Shiv Sena Bhavan
On Monday afternoon, Uddhav Thackeray arrived at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai for a meeting with all its district chiefs.
'I Thank Devendra Fadnavis': Eknath Shinde
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, "I thank Devendra Fadnavis ji that he gave me a chance to work as a minister (in the last government )... and I could work on Samruddhi Mahamarg project. He was to give the Deputy CM post to Shiv Sena also (in 2019)."
Shinde claimed that he was supposed to be made CM in the MVA government but Ajit Pawar said that he should not be given the post. He said, "Initially, I was supposed to be made CM in the MVA government... But later Ajit dada (Ajit Pawar) or someone said that I should not be made CM. I had no problem and I told Uddhav ji to go ahead, and that I was with him. I never eyed that post."
Shinde said, "We are Shivsainiks and we will always be Shivsainiks of Balasaheb and Anand Dighe. I want to remind you all who was there who got Balasaheb's voting banned for six years."
Shinde Mentions His Family, Breaks Down in Assembly
Eknath Shinde broke down during in an emotional speech in the Maharashtra Assembly as he remembered his family. He said, "While I was working as a Shiv Sena Corporator in Thane, I lost two of my children and thought everything was over... I was broken but Anand Dighe Saheb convinced me to continue in politics."
Shinde said, "He helped me recover and made me leader of the Shiv Sena in the Assembly."
NCP's Ajit Pawar Elected Leader of Opposition
Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Ajit Pawar will be the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Maharashtra Assembly. NCP Legislative party leader Jayant Patil had proposed Ajit Pawar's name for Opposition leader which was approved by the Assembly, as per the Principal Secretary.
‘Will Take Decisions in the Interest of Maharashtra’: Shinde
In a press conference with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said, "This government is of people's mandate which couldn't be formed 2.5 years back due to some reasons. We have today 50 (Shiv Sena) and 115 (BJP) MLAs, and we will take decisions in the interest of the people of Maharashtra."
He added, "I've seen Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis' decision-making speed in the previous government. He gets the pending work completed. In this government government as well, we will try to get all pending projects completed as soon as possible, be it the metro project or Samruddhi Mahamarg."
Additionally, Shinde announced that Maharashtra government will reduce VAT on fuel. Speaking about Cabinet expansion, Shinde said, "We'll see about the cabinet expansion. They (Uddhav Thackeray camp) are regularly going to courts and even today, they went to the Supreme Court. Bharat Gogawale is our whip and I'm the legislative party leader. Action will be taken against those who violated our whip."
Will Support Droupadi Murmu in Presidential Polls: Shinde
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said, "All MLAs who voted in our favour today will support Droupadi Murmu in Presidential polls... Sharad Pawar is a big leader, but whatever he says is just the opposite of facts. So we will complete 2.5 years of governance; next time, we'll have 200 MLAs, 100 ours and 100 BJP MLAs."
'Have Given Notice To Disqualify MLAs Who Defied Whip, Except Aaditya': Sena Leader
"We have given notices to disqualify all the MLAs who defied our whip; have not given his (Aaditya Thackeray's) name due to our respect for Balasaheb Thackeray," Shiv Sena chief whip Bharat Gogawale was quoted as saying.