Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray-Led Govt To Take Floor Test Today

The Shiv Sena chief had been asked by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to prove his majority by next Tuesday.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance will face floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Saturday.

New Delhi: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance will face floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on Saturday. This comes days after political whirlwind in Maharashtra came to an end after Thackeray took oath as Chief Minister on Thursday evening. The floor test will be held in the afternoon, as per the report. The Shiv Sena chief had been asked by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to prove his majority by next Tuesday. NCP MLA Dilip Walse Patil was on Friday appointed as pro tem speaker of the Assembly. He replaces BJP MLA Kalidas Kolambkar who was earlier this week appointed to the post. Walse Patil is a former speaker of the Assembly. Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, was sworn-in as the chief minister on Thursday evening and hours later, presided over his government's first cabinet meeting. Besides Thackeray, six other ministers - two each from the Sena, the Congress and the NCP - also took oath. Fadnavis was among the other dignitaries who were present at the oath-taking ceremony of Thackeray. Uddhav Thackeray heads an alliance of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, also called Maha Vikas Aghadi. Together, the three parties have 154 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly, nine more than the majority mark. They also have the support of some Independents, taking their strength to 165. Floor test of Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra govt today In fast-moving political developments on Tuesday, Fadnavis and Pawar resigned from their posts after the Supreme Court ordered the floor test the next day. They were sworn-in as chief minister and deputy chief minister on Saturday morning. Before submitting his resignation to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Fadnavis held a press conference to announce that he did not have the requisite number of MLAs to prove a majority in the 288-member Assembly. Fadnavis and Pawar's resignation paved the way for the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance to stake claim to form the next government with Uddhav Thackeray at its helm. The Sena had emerged the second largest party in last month's Maharashtra election with 56 seats; its then ally BJP was the largest party with 105 seats. Though the 30-year-old allies had majority to form government, the Sena ended the alliance over power sharing. The Shiv Sena had insisted on rotational chief ministership, which the BJP rejected. Uddhav Thackeray then aligned with the NCP and the Congress, two ideologically different parties from his. When they were on the verge of sealing an alliance, the BJP surprised them with an unscheduled dawn oath-taking of Devendra Fadnavis last Saturday, for which the central government was active through the night. Ajit Pawar, who took oath as Deputy Chief Minister, declared that all NCP MLAs were with him. Over the next few days, the NCP rallied its flock and managed to isolate "Ajit-Dada". Fadnavis quit on Tuesday, hours after he was asked to prove his majority in a floor test "within 24 hours". The BJP, 40 members short of a majority in the Maharashtra assembly, had banked on Ajit Pawar to bring in NCP MLAs. But almost all NCP lawmakers remained with Sharad Pawar. (with inputs from agencies)