Maharashtra political crisis: Fadnavis tells governor that Thackeray must face floor test, has lost majority
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Mumbai: A delegation of BJP leaders including Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshayari on Tuesday and requested to ask the Uddhav Thackeray government to go for the floor test because it has lost the majority.
Fadnavis, who led the party delegation for the meeting with Governor said: "We have written to the Governor and told him that Shiv Sena's 39 MLAs are repeatedly saying they don't want to be in an alliance with the Congress-NCP. This means they are not with the government".
"So we have told the Governor that he should ask the Chief Minister to conduct a floor test and prove majority," added Fadnavis, who met the Governor on his way back from Delhi. He was accompanied by Girish Mahajan and state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena is preparing to move to the Supreme Court if the Maharashtra Governor asks Thackeray to prove his majority on the floor of the state Assembly.
At the same time, a letter has surfaced on social media claiming that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has asked the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to prove its majority in the Assembly on June 30.
According to the letter, Vidhan Bhavan Secretary has been asked to convene a special session for the floor test on June 30 at 11 am.
However, the Governor's office rejected the letter as fake.
"A letter in circulation on social media about Maharashtra Governor asking for a Floor test in the Legislative Assembly on 30th June is fake," Maharashtra Raj Bhavan's clarified.
In Delhi, Fadnavis had a 30-minute strategy session with BJP chief JP Nadda amid speculation that the party was about to stake a claim to form a government.
The Shiv Sena rebels, whom Fadnavis had invoked, are still camping in Guwahati. Rebel leader Eknath Shinde, who said they will move to Mumbai soon, has claimed that he has the support of nearly 50 MLAs, 40 of them from the Sena and the rest Independents.
The majority mark currently stands at 144 in the 287-member state assembly. The ruling alliance of the Shiv Sena, Congress, and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party has 152 MLAs. A reduction of 40 MLAs will reduce it to a minority.