Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra govt to face majority test today
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The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government faces a floor test today on the second day of the special session of the state Assembly. On Sunday, the BJP's Rahul Narwekar – a first-time MLA – was elected as the new speaker of the assembly in another boost for the new coalition government.
"The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government is set to face a majority test on Monday, the second day of the special session of the legislature. What exactly will be the strategy of the government was discussed in the meeting held in the presence of all the MLAs on Sunday," sources had said.
Ahead of the floor test, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with his faction of Shiv Sena MLAs held a meeting with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, BJP MLAs, and other party leaders at a hotel in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the new coalition elected BJP candidate Rahul Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the House with 164 votes in support and 107 against him on the first day of the special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly that began on 3 July. He defeated Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi.
Eknath Shinde, who has been claiming the support of 40 rebel Shiv Sena legislators said that he expects the government to be successful in the floor test to be held tomorrow like the Speaker's election held today, sources added.
Fadnavis claimed that the Shinde government will prove its majority with 166 votes.
"The youngest speaker candidate won the speaker election with 164 votes today as 2 MLAs couldn't come due to health issues. We would prove our majority with 166 votes in the vote of confidence," he said.
At present, the BJP has 106 MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly and Shinde is leading 39 rebel Shiv Sena legislators and some Independents. After the death of a Shiv Sena MLA recently, the current strength of the Assembly is reduced to 287, thus the majority mark is 144.
