Barely two days after Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari called for a floor test of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the Assembly at 11 am on Thursday, the BJP on Tuesday asked him to prove majority to the chief minister. Instructions were requested. ,
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Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknathi Shinde Has said that he and his loyal party colleagues will return to Mumbai from Guwahati on Thursday.
Here are the major developments:
Uddhav Thackeray resigns before floor test
Following the Supreme Court’s decision on the floor test of the MVA government, Uddhav Thackeray resigned as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Wednesday night.
Supreme Court orders floor test for MVA govt
The MVA government will face a floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday after the Supreme Court refused to stay the governor’s direction to the Uddhav Thackeray-led SS-NCP-Congress ruling alliance to prove majority.
My own people betrayed me: CM Thackeray
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, presiding over the cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, said that his government is facing a serious crisis.
An official said Thackeray told his cabinet colleagues that he was betrayed by his own people.
“If I have inadvertently hurt anyone, I also apologize,” the official quoted Thackeray as saying.
Floor test is the best way to stop horse-trading: Shinde’s lawyer
Eknath Shinde’s counsel told the Supreme Court during the hearing on Wednesday that the best way to stop horse-trading is through a floor test and any delay would further damage democratic politics.
“After the floor test, there will be a meeting of the legislature party, after which the further course of action will be decided,” Shinde said.
Approval to rename Aurangabad, Osmanabad
The Maharashtra State Cabinet on Wednesday approved the process of renaming Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv. Navi Mumbai Airport will be renamed as DB Patil International Airport.
Shiv Sena had been trying to rename ‘Aurangabad’ for a long time and to the delight of the domestic party and raising eyebrows of the opposition, the name change came as a surprise to many.
Uddhav Thackeray chairs cabinet meeting
A cabinet meeting was held at Mantralaya on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. This is the second meeting of the cabinet in the last 24 hours.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal are attending the meeting virtually as they have tested COVID-positive
Maharashtra government to face floor test on June 30
Maharashtra Governor Koshyari has called a special session of the state assembly on Thursday, asking Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove the majority of his MVA government on the floor of the House. The governor has written a letter to the state assembly secretary asking him to convene a special session with the agenda of trust vote against CM Thackeray. The governor referred to a letter received from seven independent MLAs and media reports of 39 others withdrawing support to the MVA government in calling for a floor test.
Guwahati to ‘Goa’: Next stop for rebel Shiv Sena MLAs!
A group of disgruntled Shiv Sena MLAs and independents, camping in Guwahati, left the Radisson Blu Hotel for the airport in the evening. News agency PTI had quoted sources in the morning as saying that he is likely to visit Goa, however, sources said the plans are fluid and may depend on fresh court decisions.
According to ANI, 70 rooms have been booked at the Taj Resort and Convention Centre, Goa, from where they will fly to Mumbai on Thursday and head straight to the Maharashtra Assembly.
SpiceJet’s special charter flight, which took him from Surat to Guwahati, will bring him to Goa.
Sources told PTI that the chartered plane was to leave the popular Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati at around 3 pm with the MLAs. But his departure from Guwahati has been delayed due to the Supreme Court hearing on Shiv Sena’s plea.
Maharashtra crisis: Rebel MLA leaves for Goa from Guwahati by chartered plane
Shinde said that 50 MLAs are with us. “We have 2/3 majority. We are not worried about any floor test. No one can stop us. In a democracy, majority matters and we have that.”
The BJP directed its MLAs to assemble at the Taj President Hotel in Mumbai in the evening. Also, former Maharashtra CM and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis called a meeting of BJP leaders at his residence in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant met the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs at the hotel where they will stay overnight.
Governor waiting for this moment, acted faster than ‘Rafale’: Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday termed as “illegal” the Maharashtra Governor’s order to floor test the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Raut also took a dig at Governor Koshyari, saying he acted swiftly after meeting a group of BJP leaders and urged them to ask the government to prove majority in the assembly in the wake of rebellion in the ruling Shiv Sena. “It’s called jet speed. The governor was only waiting for this moment, he acted faster than ‘Rafale’. We will go to the Supreme Court. This is an illegal activity as the disqualification case of our 16 MLAs is pending in the SC. If such illegal activities take place, and if the Governor and the BJP trample the Constitution, then the Supreme Court will have to intervene,” Raut told reporters in the morning.
“We are confident that if the floor test is conducted as per the law, we will definitely win,” he said.
Shivsena reached Supreme Court
Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Maharashtra Governor’s direction to CM Thackeray to prove majority in the assembly.
Prabhu, in his plea, termed the governor’s decision for the floor test as illegal as he did not heed the disqualification notices of the deputy speaker to 16 of the 39 rebel MLAs. He said that none of the 39 MLAs withdrew support to the MVA government by writing a letter to the governor.
Prabhu said, “The floor test has been decided on the help and advice of the Leader of the Opposition, which has not been contemplated under the Constitution. The Governor conducted the floor test after meeting Devendra Fadnavis and without seeking CM Uddhav Takere’s response called upon.”
Jailed NCP leaders Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh also moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to appear in the floor test in Maharashtra. The Supreme Court agreed to hear his plea in the evening.
Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that holding the floor test is contempt of proceedings of the Supreme Court as it is hearing a petition related to the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the Shinde-led party.
She tweeted that Koshyari had “clearly exceeded his brief”.
With all due respect to the chair of the Governor, Mr. Koshyari has clearly left his briefs behind. All eyes now S… https://t.co/DJBhDIQzqB . Feather
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) 1656477221000
In another tweet, she said it would be contempt of Supreme Court proceedings if “floor test is conducted despite no final hearing in SC”.
“When the disqualification of 16 MLAs has been postponed till July 11 by the Supreme Court, how can a floor test be called for? How can these MLAs participate in the floor test until their disqualification status is decided and other matters for which notices have been sent are under consideration,” he tweeted.
It will be contempt of court proceedings if floor test is conducted despite no final hearing in the matter… https://t.co/WHfYPJKnVO
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) 1656474038000
Even Congress veteran Prithviraj Chavan had said that the Maharashtra government will have to move the Supreme Court against Governor Koshyari’s letter mandating the Thackeray-led government to face a floor test was.
Meanwhile, ahead of the floor test, Maharashtra ministers and NCP leaders Dilip Walse Patil and Jayant Patil visited party chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in Mumbai.
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Rebel Shiv Sena leader Shinde visits Kamakhya temple in Guwahati
This morning Shinde went to the famous Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, where he is camping in a hotel along with other rebel Shiv Sena MLAs. Shinde said that he is ready for the floor test and will return to Mumbai.
Eknath Shinde offers prayers with MLAs at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati
After visiting the temple, Shinde said, “I will return to Mumbai tomorrow (Thursday). I prayed for the welfare of the people of Maharashtra at the temple here.”
Later, around 50 disgruntled Shiv Sena and Independent MLAs from Maharashtra, led by Eknath Shinde, visited the Kamakhya temple.
An Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) bus took all the MLAs along with state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Piyush Hazarika to the Kamakhya temple on the Nilachal hill on the banks of the Brahmaputra. The MLAs did V-signs on the journalists waiting for them outside the hotel.
Along with Hazarika, BJP MP from Assam Pallab Lochan Das and MLA Diganta Kalita accompanied the rebel MLAs from the western state. The visit to Kamakhya was under heavy police arrangements, with hundreds of policemen led by top officials turning the temple into a real fort, where other devotees were not allowed for the duration of the MLAs’ visit.
(with inputs from agencies)