GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 5th July. After Monday’s floor test of the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government in the House, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed the Assembly and engaged in some wordplay, using both Eknath Shinde and his own name, to refute the accusation that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was responsible for the state’s change of leadership.
“People taunt that it’s an ED government. Yes, it is an ED government of Eknath-Devendra,” Fadnavis told the Maharashtra Assembly during a special session on Monday.
Shinde easily won the trust vote with a 164-99 margin. When rebel lawmakers from Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena supported Eknath Shinde during the floor test, opposition MLAs chanted “ED, ED” in unison.
When Thackeray camp MLA Santosh Bangar supported Shinde in the trust vote, the chant became louder. Notably, Bangar was seen weeping in support of Uddhav Thackeray in a video posted earlier on Twitter, but he crossed over to Shinde’s side on Monday.
Speaker Rahul Narvekar declared that the trust vote was won by a majority vote. Following the recent death of a Shiv Sena MLA, the current strength of the Maharashtra Assembly has been reduced to 287, making the majority mark 144.
Notably, On June 30, Eknath Shinde was sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister, while BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister.
The Maharashtra deputy chief minister stated in the Maharashtra Assembly that he had been mocked earlier for saying he would return.
“I had once said that I would come back. But when I said that, several people mocked me. I have come back today and brought him (Eknath Shinde) along with me. I won’t take revenge on people who mocked me. I will forgive them, everything isn’t taken to heart in politics,” Fadnavis said.
During the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election campaign, Fadnavis’ Mi punha yein (I will return) remark was mocked by political rivals.
From 2014 to 2019, Fadnavis was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the full five-year term. Following the 2019 Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena severed ties with the BJP over the Chief Ministership.
“Our alliance (Shiv Sena and BJP) had received the mandate (in 2019), but we were deliberately taken away from the majority. But with Eknath Shinde, we have once again formed our government with Shiv Sena. A true Shivsainik has been made the Chief Minister. I became the Deputy CM as per my party’s command,” deputy CM Fadnavis said in the Maharashtra Assembly on Monday.
“I would have even sat at home had the party told me – the same party that made me a chief minister,” Fadnavis said.
Fadnavis slammed former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, saying, “Everyone in politics should be prepared to listen to the voices of their opponents. People have been imprisoned for making statements and posting on social media. We should expect people to speak out against us. We must respond to criticism appropriately.”
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