Uddhav Thackeray wins trust vote amid BJP walkout

Much along expected lines, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi on Saturday won the trust vote amid a walkout staged by the BJP on Saturday.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance secured 169 votes in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. A total of 169 MLAs voted in favour of MVA, while four MLAs abstained.

The magic figure in the House is 145. In the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the BJP has 105 seats, followed by Shiv Sena (56), NCP (54) and Congress (44), the three partners or the newly-formed alliance. The MVA has the support of smaller parties and independents.

Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar – the nephew of NCP President Sharad Pawar, also voted in favour of the Thackeray government, as did his nephew Rohit Pawar, and Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray.

Incidentally, Pawar Jr had suddenly allied with the BJP’s former CM Devendra Fadnavis and was sworn-in as Deputy CM in an early morning ceremony on November 23. However, the ill-fated government collapsed in barely 80 hours.

The resolution seeking the House confidence was moved by Congress leader and former CM Ashok Chavan and seconded by NCP’s Nawab Malik and Shiv Sena’s Sunil Prabhu. "I thank all for reposing confidence and faith government," Thackeray said.

Fadnavis boycotted the special Assembly session, contending that the proceedings contravened the statute and Supreme Court orders.

He said that the ruling MVA removed the former Pro-Tem Speaker Kalidas Kolambkar and appointed Dilip Walse-Patil in his place, contravening parliamentary rules and regulations.

Fadnavis also took exception to the manner of the oath-taking ceremony held at Shivaji Park on November 28, saying it was not done according to the format, since the names of various past and present national leaders/heroes were invoked.

However, the Pro-Tem Speaker Walse-Patil rejected the contention, saying the special session was according to the directives of the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and in accordance with the Supreme Court orders.

"It’s a procedure that the House needs to elect the Speaker first and only then the trust motion can be placed for the consideration of the House, as it was done in 2014. But this government also skipped Speaker’s election," Fadnavis said.