As the political crisis in Maharashtra entered its eight day, BJP leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, 28 June, met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and requested him for a floor test.
If this were to happen, the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state will have to prove its majority in the Assembly.
Fadnavis, who submitted a letter to the Governor said that the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) government seemed to be in minority after 39 Sena MLAs from the Shinde-led rebel faction, had reportedly withdrawn their support from it.
This came right after he met top BJP leaders in Delhi earlier in the day.
Before Fadnavis landed at the Raj Bhavan, eight rebel independent MLAs in Guwahati, earlier associated with the Shiv Sena, had asked for a floor test at the earliest over emails, claiming that the Thackeray government had lost its majority.
At the Raj Bhavan, he was accompanied by state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and party leaders Sudhir Mungantiwar, Pravin Darekar, Girish Mahajan and Ashish Shelar.
What Did the Letter Say?
Citing various Supreme Court judgements, Fadnavis said in the letter that majority in the House is "Supreme" in a parliamentary democracy and essential for a government's existence.
It noted that the Sena and BJP had contested the 2019 Assembly elections in alliance, but after the poll results, the Sena formed the government with Congress and NCP.
The letter, referring to the statements made by Sena MP Sanjay Raut and others, further alleged that the rebel Sena MLAs were being threatened.
'Not Too Late, Come Back To Mumbai': Uddhav Thackeray
Meanwhile, CM Thackeray had reached out to dissident Sena MLAs once again on Tuesday, urging them to return to Mumbai and hold talks with him.
Although he said it wasn't "too late", rebel leader Shinde remained unmoved and asserted the legislators backing him are firm on taking forward Hindutva.
The fresh conciliatory move came a day after the CM, who is also the Sena president, took away the portfolios of all nine rebel ministers, including Shinde, and against the backdrop of the Supreme Court granting relief to breakaway MLAs.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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