@the_news_21
Mumbai: The newly formed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led coalition government in Maharashtra on Monday won the floor-test in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly hands down. The Shinde-BJP led coalition government secured 164 votes (145 majority mark), as against 99 votes against the motion polled by the Opposition consisting of the Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena faction, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.
The two MLAs of Samajwadi Party, Abu Asim Azmi and Raees Shaikh and AIMIM MLA Shah Farooq Anwar abstained from voting while another MLA Mohammad Abdul Ismail Khaliq of the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party remained absent.
After returning to Mumbai from Goa with his supporting MLAs a couple of days ago, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told media persons that the Speaker’s election and the floor-test were mere formalities to the new government. True to his words, the new coalition government led by Eknath Shinde and the BJP sailed through without any hiccups in the House.
However, there was a twist in the tale, as senior Congress legislators Ashok Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar and Praniti Shinde and 17 others including legislators of the NCP could not make it into the House when the doors were shut for the head count held for the trust vote. The ramifications were the reduction in the cumulative numbers of the Opposition confined to just 99.
During the course of the day the Shiv Sena received yet another jolt as one more MLA Santosh Bangar switched allegiance over to the Eknath Shinde camp and eventually voted for him during the floor-test. Now there are 40 Shiv Sena MLAs who are supporting Eknath Shinde. Congratulating Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured him of his complete support in running the government.
