Uddhav Thackeray government sails through trust vote after BJP walkout

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Nov 30, 2019:  The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra, led by Uddhav Thackeray, sailed through the trust vote in the Maharashtra assembly on Saturday after over a month of intense power struggle that saw allies parting ways and bitter rivals coming together to form an alliance.

 

The floor test began with high drama as the BJP members, led by Mr Fadnavis, walked out just before voting. The BJP is protesting against the selection of Nationalist Congress Party’s Dilip Walse Patil as temporary speaker. Mr Patil had replaced BJP’s Kalidas Kolambkar as pro-tem speaker and a permanent speaker will be elected tomorrow.

"Never in the history of Maharashtra assembly, a trust vote was conducted without electing a Speaker. What was the fear this time?" Mr Fadnavis said, moments before the BJP staged a walkout.

Mr Thackeray, 59, heads an alliance of the Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, also called Maha Vikas Aghadi.

The alliance won with 169 votes, well above the half-way mark of 145 in the 288-member assembly.  The three parties together have 154 MLAs. Some Independents and others like Bahujan Vikas Aghadi too backed the Uddhav Thackeray-led alliance.

Ahead of the floor test, Mr Thackeray paid tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji in the state assembly premises. The three parties had issued a whip to their MLAs be present in the assembly.

Courtesy:NDTV