Uddhav Camp MLA Santosh Bangar jumps ship ahead of floor test; votes in favour of Shinde

In another major setback to the Uddhav Thackeray Camp, Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar voted in favour of the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Monday's floor test. As the Shiv Sena leader supported the Trust vote, he was hooted at by the MLAs on the Opposition benches in the assembly. Bhangar jumped ship and joined the Shinde camp just a day ahead of the crucial floor test. 

Santosh Bangar stood with the Thackeray Camp during the Maharashtra assembly speaker election on Sunday as the Eknath Shinde-led government received a massive boost after BJP's Rahul Narwekar won. However, Bangar left the hotel last night and was seen with Shinde faction MLAs today morning ahead of the floor test.  

It is pertinent to mention that over a week ago MLA Santosh Bangar, was seen making an emotional request to the people of Maharashtra in a bid to save the Uddhav Thackeray government. The video showed him making a tearful appeal to Shinde and the rebel faction to come back.

Eknath Shinde camp wins big in vote of confidence

The newly sworn-in Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra won the vote of confidence with a margin of 164-99 votes. 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. Many Congress MLAs such as Ashok Chavan and Zeeshan Siddiqui did not cast their vote during the trust vote. 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.

(Image: ANI/@MiEknathShinde_Twitter)