Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Mahayuti led Mahayuti alliance government in Maharashtra comfortably won a confidence vote in the State assembly on Monday. The trust motion, tabled by Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant and others, was passed by a voice vote on the last day of the three-day special assembly session.
Speaker Rahul Narwekar, elected unopposed for a second straight term earlier in the day, announced that the trust motion has been approved by the newly-constituted House. The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP 'Mahayuti' coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats in the 288-member assembly, where the majority mark is 145.
"The confidence motion has been passed with a majority," Narwekar said. Fadnavis was sworn-in as the chief minister for a third time on December 5 at a grand ceremony in Mumbai's Azad Maidan. Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) took oath as deputy CMs at the ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The 15th assembly officially began its tenure on December 7, two weeks the poll results were announced. With the BJP-led alliance enjoying a super majority in the lower House, the floor test was a mere formality. Shiv Sena leader and former minister Samant, BJP legislator Sanjay Kute, former minister Dilip Walse Patil (NCP), and independent MLA Ravi Rana tabled the proposal for a confidence motion in the lower House.
With Narwekar's appointment as Speaker, the ruling coalition now enjoys the support of 229 MLAs, including small parties and independent MLAs. Narwekar (47), the BJP MLA from Mumbai's Colaba seat and a lawyer by training, was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the 15th assembly.
Opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which has less than 50 MLAs, did not put up a candidate. Fadnavis, in his congratulatory speech, highlighted that Narwekar is only the second member of the lower House to be re-elected to the post since the state's formation in 1960.
"Balasaheb Bharde was the only Speaker of the legislative assembly to be re-elected to the post twice since 1960 when Maharashtra was formed. After Bharde, Narwekar is the second member of the assembly to receive the honour," the chief minister said.
He pointed out that Kundanmal Firodia was the first Speaker of the House to be reappointed, but it was during the time of Bombay state, and Sayaji L Silam was elected to the post before the formation of Maharashtra, and he was re-elected after the state came into existence. During his first tenure, Narwekar had ruled that the party led by Eknath Shinde was the "real" Shiv Sena after a split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led party in 2022.
He also held that the faction under Ajit Pawar was the "real" Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which was founded by Sharad Pawar. Making a cursory reference to the verdict on the disputes involving the Shiv Sena and NCP, Fadnavis said, "During his first tenure as Speaker, Narwekar underwent some excruciating tests of his mettle, such as the decisions related to recognising the parties in the House. It was his 'agnipariksha' (trial by fire). His legal acumen proved invaluable during several debates in the chamber."
In the evening, Governor C P Radhakrishnan addressed a joint sitting of the legislature where he said Maharashtra has emerged as the No.1 destination among all states in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Maharashtra contributes more than 14 per cent to the country's GDP, he said.
The government has set a very ambitious target of making Maharashtra the first state to achieve the target of becoming a USD one trillion economy by the year 2027-28, the Governor emphasised. The state government has announced a policy of giving anchor industry status to mega projects and hi-tech manufacturing sector like semiconductors, electric vehicles, aerospace and defence, chemicals and polymers, lithium ion batteries, steel and other products, the Governor noted.
