'BJP Ungraceful Loser, Ran Away from Floor Test': Cong and NCP on Walkout During Thackeray Govt's Trust Vote

Mumbai: The NCP and Congress on Saturday accused the BJP of being "ungraceful losers" and running away from the Assembly after the opposition party staged a walkout before the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government faced a floor test.

The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance cleared the floor test with 169 votes in its favour. The BJP's 105 MLAs walked out before head count began in the 288-member House.

BJP MLAs objected to convening of the session and also NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil's appointment as pro-tem Speaker in place of BJP's Kalidas Kolambkar before walking out.

The NCP's chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said Walse Patil was appointed as pro-tem Speaker with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's consent. The session too was convened after Koshyari's approval, he said.

"They wanted some excuse to run away, that is why all this (ruckus). Devendra ji (BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis) should take lessons from (senior BJP leader Eknath) Khadse on how an opposition leader should work," Malik said.

NCP MP Supriya Sule too said that the BJP ran away from floor test.

"We are absolutely democratic. We will not stifle their (opposition's) voice. For us, the battle is not personal. We will win their hearts with love," she said.

"Maharashtra never saw vindictive approach. Our government will not work in a vindictive manner...They (the BJP) ran away when the floor test was on," Sule said.

All India Congress Committee secretary in-charge for Maharashtra Ashish Dua termed the BJP as "ungraceful losers".

"Win of #MahaVikasAghadi of @ShivSena @NCPspeaks @INCIndia is a win of #democracy & of the people of #Maharashtra whose welfare is the prime mover of this development centric govt. Ungraceful losers beat a hasty retreat amplifying the fact that truth ultimately wins, lies lose...," Dua tweeted.

Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan said Fadnavis should have welcomed his successor Uddhav Thackeray with open heart. "But instead he raised minor technical issues. This was not right," Chavan said.