Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should resign as the Uddhav Thackeray's party-led coalition has the support of "162 MLAs" to prove majority in the Maharashtra Assembly. He claimed that during the floor test, the 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' of the Sena, NCP and Congress will have the support of "170 legislators". The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that a floor test for Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prove his majority in the Assembly be conducted on Wednesday.
Fadnavis was sworn in as chief minister and NCP's Ajit Pawar as his deputy by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at a hush hush ceremony in Raj Bhavan early Saturday morning.
"The swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis was carried out keeping everybody in the dark. He should step down from his post. We have the majority of at least 162 MLAs. At the time of the floor test, we will have the support of 170," Shinde told reporters here.
In view of the apex court's direction calling for a floor test on Wednesday, senior Shiv Sena leaders will on Tuesday meet the party's 56 MLAs, who are currently staying at a hotel here. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will address the meeting, a party leader said.
Meanwhile, Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut dubbed Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision of swearing-in Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister at a hush-hush ceremony on Saturday as "murder of democracy". "The BJP came to power by producing fabricated documents of majority," Raut told reporters here.
"I am confident that not a single MLA of the 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' will defect during the floor test. We have shown the governor as well as President of India that we have the support of 162 MLAs," he said. If the BJP has a majority, it should prove it during the floor test, the Rajya Sabha member added.
In a show of strength ahead of the Supreme Court's ruling on floor test in Maharashtra, the Sena-NCP-Congress combine on Monday paraded '162 MLAs' at a luxury hotel to demonstrate that it has numbers in the 288-member House, where the majority mark is 145.
The BJP and the Sena, which fought the last month's Assembly polls in an alliance, secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively. The Sena, however, broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post. The NCP and Congress won 54 and 44 seats respectively.
Sanjay Raut reacts on the Supreme Court verdict on Maharashtra floor test:
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said truth cannot be defeated. "Satyamev jayate" (truth shall prevail)," Raut tweeted.
"Satya pareshan ho sakta hai..parajit nahi ho sakta...Jai Hind!!" (truth can get frustrated, but cannot get defeated), the Rajya Sabha member said in another tweet.
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