In a day of both dramatic and unprecedented developments, the 13-day-old BJP Government won the vote of confidence in the Maharashtra Assembly through a voice vote on Wednesday, amid vehement protests by the Shiv Sena and the Congress that culminated in the suspension of five Congress MlAs for two years after their alleged ruckus outside the House led to minor injuries to Governor Vidyasagar Rao.
On a day when the Sena and the Congress accused the Devendra Fadnavis Government of failing to prove its majority on the floor of the House and Speaker Haribahu Bagde of facilitating the BJP’s victory in the confidence vote on a “flimsy” technical ground, the Governor found himself at the centre of a high drama.
The Governor and security staff had to push their way through the crowd of Sena and Congress MlAs who elbowed him and those escorting him, inside the hall where he was to address a joint sitting of both the Houses. The Governor suffered a minor injury in the jostling that took place.
The Sena and Congress members also disrupted the Governor’s address to a joint sitting of both the Houses subsequently. later, within hours of this unsavoury incident five newly-elected Congress MlAs were suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for a period of two years for allegedly causing “injury” to the Governor.
The five Congress MlAs are Rahul Bondre, Abdul Sattar, Amar Kale, Virendra Jagtap and Jaikumar Gore.
Meanwhile, even as the Sena and the Congress took on the BJP and the Speaker both within and outside the House for rushing through the resolution seeking the trust vote and allegedly “strangulating” democracy and the Constitution, the NCP’s role on the issue of its much-discussed “outside” support to the Fadnavis dispensation remained ambiguous inside the House, with “numbers” not playing any role in the BJP’s win in the trust vote.
As the NCP pretended to be unconcerned about the goings-on both within and outside the Assembly, the aggrieved Sena and the Congress charged the BJP with having scripted the drama of winning the trust vote through a voice vote instead of division in votes, so as to distance itself from the Sharad Pawar-led party which had extended its “unsolicited” support to the Fadnavis Government.
Dismissing the Opposition Sena and Congress’ charge that his Government had failed to prove its majority on the floor of the House, Chief Minister Fadnavis said: “When we moved the confidence vote, the Speaker went strictly by the rules and sought voice vote on the motion. However, when the voice vote was being sought, those seeking division of votes should have made a request for the same. But, no party made such a request for division of votes. Meanwhile the process of voice vote got over and the Speaker declared that the motion had been passed. later, the Speaker took up the issue of appointment of leader of the Opposition. It was at this stage that some members demanded division of votes. The Sena and Congress should realise that once the process of voice vote having been completed, the Speaker could not have gone back to the previous issue and taken up the request for division of votes.
“The question is, why did these people (Sena and Congress MlAs) not demand division of votes at an appropriate timeIJ In fact, there have been many occasions in the past when the resolutions seeking confidence vote have been passed through voice vote. If the Congress thinks that we do not enjoy a majority in the House, it is free to move a no-confidence motion against our Government and also demand division of votes at an appropriate time so that it will become crystal clear whether we have a majority in the House or not,” Fadnavis said, without referring to the Sena’s demand for division of votes.
The crucial day began with the Sena and Congress withdrawing their respective candidates Vijay Auti and Varsha Gaikwad from the fray of Speaker’s election and in the process facilitating the unopposed election of Haribhau Bagde of the BJP as the Speaker of the House.
Soon after Bagde’s unanimous election as the Speaker, the BJP MlA moved a one-line motion seeking confidence of the House in the Fadnavis Government. The Speaker declared the resolution as passed by voice vote, even as Opposition Shiv Sena and Congress insisted on a division of votes.
The Speaker however, declined to entertain the Sena’s request on the ground that the process of confidence vote had been completed and that he had moved on to next issue - that of declaring Eknath Shinde as the leader of the Opposition.
The agitated Sena MlAs rushed to the well of the House to demand the division in votes. The aggrieved Congress also joined the Sena MlAs in protests in the Well of the House.
Eknath Shinde, who was later in the day declared as leader of the Opposition, said: “The House should be run as per rules and the Constitution should not be trampled upon. The new Government is strangulating democracy.”
later, talking to mediapersons, former Chief Minister Chavan said: “It is a black day in the democratic process in Maharashtra. This Government is illegitimate until it proves its majority in the House by division of votes.”
Supplementing Chavan view, Maharashtra State Congress president Manikrao Thakre said: “They are around 25 MlAs short (of majority). The Vajpayee Government fell by one vote in Parliament. We will not allow the Assembly to conduct any business until the Government obtains a fresh trust vote”.
Talking to media persons outside the House, senior Sena leader Ramdas Kadam charged that the Speaker had colluded with the BJP in the strangulation of the Constitution.Congress leaders Chavan and Thakre also said that their party planned to write to the Governor requesting him not to address a joint sitting of the bicameral legislature scheduled later in the day.
In a letter mailed to the Governor, the Congress said: “The minority BJP Government has a strength of 123 MlAs when the majority mark is 145. The BJP Government has not followed your directives and hence it is an unconstitutional Government”. The Congress sought time to explain the developments that took place in the Assembly and threatened to launch an agitation if the demand for the Government seeking a fresh trust vote was not met.