Maharashtra: BJP's Raosaheb Patil says 'Speaker will decide' disqualification of Sena MLAs

Union Minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Danve Patil responded to Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant's recent call for the disqualification of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs for defying the party's directive by saying that the "Speaker would decide."

Arvind Sawant had said, "39 of our MLAs did not follow our whip and did not follow the order of the party, so we have demanded their disqualification along with the new Assembly Speaker, Rahul Narvekar."

Responding to the statement, Raosaheb Danve Patil said, "It will be decided by the Speaker. If both the parties will go to court, then the court will take further decision on it." 

BJP's Rahul Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly on July 3, the first day of its special session. 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. 

Patil further spoke about the new government in the state of Maharashtra and said, "As of today, our government in Maharashtra is stable. We have an alliance with Shiv Sena. Eknath Shinde is our leader and our government will run for the next three years. Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde will run the government together."

Illegal to allow rebels facing disqualification to vote: Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena members backing former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray have argued that it was illegal to elect a new Speaker as rebel MLAs facing disqualification proceedings were allowed to vote. Penning an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Monday, Executive Editor Sanjay Raut opined that there is no rule of law in Maharashtra since Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister. 

On this occasion, he also took a dig at Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for not permitting the Speaker's election to take place during the MVA tenure. Moreover, he affirmed that people wouldn't forgive those who take oath in Balasaheb Thackeray's name and commit sins.

Eknath Shinde-led govt wins Vote of Confidence with 164-99 margin; big setback for Uddhav

In a massive setback for Uddhav Thackeray, the newly sworn-in Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra won the vote of confidence on Monday. 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. 

(With inputs from ANI)