CM Eknath Shinde breaks down in Maharashtra Assembly remembering his late children

In his first address in the Maharashtra assembly as the Chief Minister of the state, Eknath Shinde alleged that there were threats to his family over his revolt against his Shiv Sena boss and then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, on Monday. A teary-eyed Shinde remembered his family amid the legislatures and choked up while referring to his children, who he had lost in an accident in 2002.

"While I was working as a Shiv Sena Corporator in Thane, I lost 2 of my children," Shinde said. His children with his wife Lata- Dipesh (aged 11) and daughter Shubhada (aged 7) drowned in water when the boat they were aboard overturned in a lake near their native village in Maharashtra, as per reports. His oldest son is a Shiv Sena MP.

'Thought everything was finished'

Remembering the situation back then, the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party said, "I thought everything was over. I used to think, what is there to live for? I will stay with my family." Remembering Anand Dighe, a Shiv Sena icon, and his role back then, the MLA added, "He told me to wipe my tears and wipe others' tears as well. He helped me recover and made me a leader of the Shiv Sena in the assembly."

Shinde camp wins floor test

Earlier, on the last day of the two-day special session convened, Shinde won the crucial floor test. In the 288-member House, 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence, while 99 voted against it. Three legislators abstained from voting, while 21 legislators, including Congress's Ashok Chavan and Vijay Wadettiwar, were absent. 

On the first day of the special session, the Eknath Shinde-led government received a big boost as BJP's Rahul Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly. While he polled 164 votes, only 107 MLAs voted in favour of MVA's candidate Rajan Salvi. A total of 11 MLAs including 7 NCP legislators were not present during the Assembly session when the voting took place.