Maharashtra: Aurangabad, floor test and Uddhav Thackeray’s endgame

Salvaging what is left and coming out relatively less scathed than the Maharashtra political crisis promises, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray might try to reclaim the Hindutva credentials of Shiv Sena by renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar. A crucial cabinet meeting today is all set to take a decision on this, and in the process put paid to the congeries of disparate parties called the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Congress and NCP are dead against the renaming. The move comes just a day ahead of the floor test, the result is almost a foregone conclusion. The numbers are stacked against Shiv Sena alliance. BJP’s firebrand leader Devendra Fadnavis has been spewing fire, calling for a floor test claiming the CM has lost the confidence of the Assembly. Fadnavis on Tuesday night met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and requested him to ask the Thackeray government in the state to prove its majority in the Assembly. Fadnavis claimed that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition government seemed to be in minority as 39 Sena MLAs who belong to the Shinde faction have said they do not support it. Citing various Supreme Court judgements, Fadnavis said in the letter submitted to the Governor that as majority in the House is “supreme” in parliamentary democracy and essential for a government’s existence, he was requesting the governor to ask the chief minister to prove majority at the earliest. “We handed over a letter to the Governor, requesting him to ask the government to prove its majority through a floor test,” the former chief minister told reporters. Fadnavis is all the more confident since he doesn’t even need the ‘rebel’ Eknath Shinde group to topple the MVA government. The majority mark in the 287-member Maharashtra Assembly stands at 144. Before Eknath Shinde left the alliance, Shiv Sena had 55 MLAs, while NCP had 53 and Congress with 44. Shinde has now claimed to have the support of over 40 MLAs, which means that the ruling alliance will no longer have a majority in the Assembly. The rebel Shiv Sena leader along with four other Maharashtra lawmakers visited the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati early on Wednesday morning. Talking to reporters outside the temple, Shinde said: “Will be in Mumbai on Thursday for floor test in Assembly.” Shinde and other dissident MLAs supporting him are currently camping in a luxurious Guwahati hotel in BJP-ruled Assam. “We will go to Mumbai on Thursday to complete the formalities and follow all the process,” he said. Uddhav Thackeray will face the floor test on Thursday, June 30, at 11 am, as Governor BS Koshyari has sent a letter to the state Legislature Secretary to conduct a floor test where the Maharashtra chief minister will have to prove his majority. The proceeding has to be completed by 5 pm Thursday, the letter added. (With inputs from agencies) Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.