Ashok Chavan denies rumours of Congress pulling out of MVA, explains floor test absence

Putting all speculations to rest, former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan clarified that the Congress party will continue to be a part of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Formed in November 2019 as a result of Shiv Sena breaking its ties with pre-poll ally BJP, MVA formed the government under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray.

However, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government collapsed on June 30 after Thackeray tendered his resignation owing to the rebellion of his party MLAs. Speaking to the media on Monday, Chavan also explained the reason for his absence from the trust vote proceedings. 

Ashok Chavan said, "There is no need to be surprised. The reality is that we were with Maha Vikas Aghadi during the Speaker's election. We did not support anyone else for the Speaker. As per the normal tradition, a discussion is held first and then the motion is put up for voting. We were just 2-3 minutes late. When we reached the lobby, the doors were closed. There is no political meaning in this. As it is, it doesn't matter how many opposition members were present as their tally was 164. Already, they had crossed the majority figure." 

A total of 20 MLAs remained absent during the Maharashtra trust vote including 10 Congress MLAs - Jitesh Antapurkar, Zeeshan Siddique, Praniti Shinde, Ashok Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar, Dhiraj Deshmukh, Kunal Patil, Raju Awale, Mohanrao Hambarde and Shirish Chaudhari. Chavan added, "No one is upset with anyone. If we were upset, why would we vote for MVA during the Speaker's election? We were with MVA yesterday and are with MVA today as well". 

Eknath Shinde government wins floor test

In a massive setback for Uddhav Thackeray on Monday, the newly sworn-in Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra won the vote of confidence. Apart from MLAs of BJP, Shiv Sena, smaller parties and Independents, the ruling coalition also secured the votes of Uddhav camp MLA Santosh Bangar and PWPI legislator Shyamsundar Shinde. This implies that 40 out of 55 Sena MLAs are now with the government.

On the other hand, the opposition secured only 99 votes- 8 less than what it bagged in the Speaker's election a day earlier. Meanwhile, 2 Samajwadi Party MLAs- Abu Asim Azmi and Rais Shaikh and AIMIM MLA Shah Faruque Anwar abstained once again. This development will usher in stability for the new government and also pose fresh questions for the Shiv Sena supremo's hold over the party.