BJP government crosses first hurdle in Maharashtra, wins trust vote; Congress, Shiv Sena fume

Mumbai: The Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra has crossed its first big hurdle by winning the confidence motion in the state Assembly. While the government won through a voice vote in the Maharashtra Assembly, members of the opposition, the Congress and the Shiv Sena questioned that since the government is not in majority, how can they win the confidence motion through a voice vote.

"This government is not in a majority. Opposition members demand voting. Our MLAs will go to the Governor and will appeal against this government. We will not allow the house to run," Congress leader Manikrao Thakre said.

The Congress, too, voiced the same opinion demanding votes to be counted again. "The government will have to show that they have the majority. They cannot run a minority government. We appeal that they should show the majority and only then can they run government," Prithviraj Chavan said.

However, Speaker Haribhau Bagde paid no heed to the opposition parties' demand and declined it saying that the government had won the trust vote.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) who had offered outside support in the Maharashtra Assembly said that they will work with the government for stability and development in the state. "We wanted a stable government. There is no demand for division of votes. Speaker has already declared," NCP leader Rahul Navrekar said.

The Speaker also announced the appointment of Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde as Leader of Opposition in the House.

Before the government went for the floor test, there was a lot of buzz over the decision of former ally Shiv Sena. According to sources, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray spoke to BJP chief Amit Shah. During the conversation, Shah urged Uddhav to support the BJP government in the floor test and assured that he would sort out the seat sharing formula after the floor test. But Uddhav insisted that the BJP will have to declare the proposal before the confidence motion.

Uddhav had told Shah that his party was willing to be a part of the government provided they sort out the power sharing formula before the floor test.