Uddhav Thackeray to face floor test on June 30 as BJP demands show of strength

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra will face the floor test on June 30 as the BJP demanded a show of strength in the Assembly amidst ongoing crisis with the Shiv Sena. The Eknath Shinde-led rebel Shiv Sena camp has claimed majority.

This comes a day after a BJP delegation led by Devendra Fadnavis met Governor and sought a floor test.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has called for a special session to be convened on Thursday for a floor test in the wake of a BJP delegation telling him that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government does not have majority following the rebellion within the Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government is mulling moving the Supreme Court by noon challenging the Governor’s order as the matter was still pending in the apex court.

Koshyari has written to Rajendra Bhagwat, the Secretary of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, to convene the special session.

The special session would be held between 11 am to 5 pm, the Governor directed.

Security was also beefed up in the financial capital of Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, rebel group leader Eknath Shinde said they would be coming to Mumbai tomorrow for the floor test. “We will go for the floor test tomorrow,” he said.

There are chances that the rebels would be shifted out from Guwahati to elsewhere in India. Goa is one of the locations that they are looking at.

Also read: Why does Shinde rebellion hit so hard? A look at Shiv Sena's history

Yesterday, Thackeray made yet another emotional appeal to the Eknath Shinde-backed rebels to return back from Guwahati, sit across the table in Mumbai and iron out the issues.

“As Shiv Sena party chief and family head, I am still worried about you. Come here for dialogue, through dialogue we can sort out differences,” Thackeray said in a brief statement issued through the Shiv Sena party office.

The appeal by Thackeray comes a day after the rebel group invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that both BJP and Shiv Sena were growing under his leadership and called upon Thackeray to break away from NCP-Congress and uphold the ideals of late Balasaheb Thackeray.