Amidst uproar MVA passes its first acid test, wins trust vote as Opposition walks out in protest

Mumbai: Amidst unprecedented uproarious scenes in the legislative assembly on Saturday, and the walkout by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led opposition, the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress comfortably won the trust vote with 169 members voting in favor, four members abstaining and none voting against it. The 105 BJP MLAs and 10 of its allies and Independent legislators staged a walk out of the house without casting there negative vote.

Senior Congress member Ashok Chavan moved the one line trust motion, which was seconded by Nawab Mallik (NCP) and Sunil Prabhu (Sena). Thereafter, Pro-tem Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil called for the lobbies to be cleared and ordered a head count. But before the headcount could start, the BJP led opposition staged a noisy walk out in protest. While, four MLAs – 1 each of MNS and CPI-M and 2 of MIM abstained from voting. Earlier, Dilip Walse-Patil replaced BJP appointed Pro-tem Speaker Kalidas Kolambkar who had conducted the special session in which all the 288 MLAs took oath of membership.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day the Congress nominated Nana Patole as its candidate for the election to the post of legislative assembly Speaker. The opposition BJP has nominated its senior member Kisan Kathore as its candidate for the post. The election to the Speakers post is to be held on December 1 along with the appointment of the leader of opposition. The opposition has demanded that the election to the Speakers post should be held through secret ballot.

Earlier, raising a slew of point of procedures, Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) termed the session as unconstitutional. “The oath that was taken by the ministers is invalid. The introduction of cabinet and Chief Minister is invalid. Never in the legislative history of the state has the Pro-tem Speaker been removed in this manner.  The floor test is happening before the appointment of the Speaker. The procedures are being blatantly flouted. Norms are being flouted. In 2014 the BJP government first appointed the Speaker and then the floor test was conducted. They have flouted constitution order and that is why we have boycotted the proceedings.”

The former chief minister argued that the opposition members received the intimation about it at 1 am and most of the out-station opposition legislators were not in a position to reach on time. Opposition BJP members rushed to the well of the house raising slogans “Dadagiri nahin chalegi”. Fadnavis argued that since the last special session ended with the national anthem being sung. This new session should have commenced with the national anthem.

Fadnavis argued that until the new Speaker is appointed the earlier appointed Pro-tem Speaker continues in office. He added that the MVA even bypassed the rule and replaced the earlier Pro-tem Speaker. He argued that the oath taken by the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues was not in the standard protocol and hence was illegal. To which Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray argued that he did take his oath in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his parents name. He added that if that was an offense then he would commit it again. Senior NCP minister Jayant Patil wanted to know as to why the BJP led opposition was raising objections to the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Giving his ruling, Pro-tem Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil argued that the Supreme Court had asked him to conduct the floor test. “The questions and incidents raised by Fadnavis have not taken place inside the assembly. This has to do with the Raj Bhavan. So I would not be in a position to say anything. The state cabinet has full right to appoint to Pro-tem Speaker and the Governor has issued an order and I have been asked to run the procedure for the day. The SC has asked me to conduct the floor test and the procedure is also laid down by the SC”, he added.

Arguing that there was no illegality about the conduct of the proceedings, he reminded the house that the proceedings are going LIVE according to the Supreme Court order so all should let the maintain discipline and the decorum of the house. Fadnavis along with the BJP members called on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to submit a letter asking him to suspend the proceedings of the house and that the house should follow the constitution. Sources disclosed that the BJP intends to move the Supreme Court challenging the trust vote taken by the MVA.

Speaking to newspersons at Vidhan Bhavan, Ashok Chavan remarked that the BJP led opposition picked on small irrelevant issues, made excuses and ran away from the house. Nitesh Rane (BJP) termed the conduct of the proceedings as totally illegal. He added that if the ruling MVA had the support of 170 MLAs, then why were they so afraid so as to even change the Pro-tem Speaker. Terming it as the murder of democracy, former minister Girish Mahajan (BJP), stated that the BJP walked out as the MVA pushed through the proceedings.

Nawab Mallik (NCP) claimed that even four supporting Independent MLAs did not turn up and in a bid to hide its inability to muster even 119 members the BJP staged a walkout. State Congress president Balasaheb Thorat sarcastically remarked that the BJP has begun behaving like the opposition does. Lok Sabha, NCP MP Sunil Tatkare stated that since the BJP led opposition is strong the MVA shall remain on the alert.