After a dramatic beginning of the first day of Maharashtra Assembly on Saturday, the newly formed alliance of Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP, Maha Vikas Aghadi, passed the floor test with total 169 votes in its favour.
The required number in the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly is 145 to claim the majority.
The floor test was done in absence of opposition as the BJP staged a walkout, terming the session as unconstitutional.
On the first day of the assembly, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that this assembly session is not as per the rules as it started without Vande Mataram, which is a violation of the rule.
Rejecting Fadnavis’ claims, the protem speaker Dilip Patil said that he had given the permission for this session and it is as per the rules.
This led to an uproar in the assembly and Fadnavis said, “If I am not allowed to speak on the Constitution then I have no right to sit in this house.”
He further said, “Never in the history of Maharashtra Assembly a trust vote was conducted without electing a speaker.”
Congress’s Ashok Chavan proposed trust vote, NCP’s Nawab Malik and Shiv Sena’s Sunil Prabhu second it. Opposition MLAs led by BJP continued to raise slogans against the proposal terming it unconstitutional and staged a walkout.
Later, speaking to media outside the assembly, Devendra Fadnavis termed the session as unconstitutional and illegal. He also termed the appointment of Speaker as unconstitutional.
“We are going to submit a letter to the Governor asking him to suspend the proceedings of the House,” said Fadnavis. He also said that the House should follow the Constitution.
On Thursday, Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a development that came after over a month-long political battle in the state. Six other legislators took oath as ministers on the same day at Shivaji Park, Mumbai.