Shinde hints at Maha return as Fadnavis meets governor
HT Correspondents
GUWAHATI/NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday evening and demanded that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government prove its majority on the floor of the assembly, indicating that the week-long political turmoil was entering its final lap.
Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis returned to Mumbai after meeting Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in Delhi and drove to Raj Bhavan from the airport. Accompanying him were four party lawmakers and letters of support from eight independent legislators.
“We have given a letter to the Maharashtra governor demanding an immediate floor test. 39 Shiv Sena members do not support the MVA government. The government is in a minority,” Fadnavis told reporters.
The meeting marked a dramatic shift in the stance of the BJP, which has been in wait-andwatch mode since the MVA was hit by political turmoil last week. Despite the rebels camping in the Bjp-run states of Gujarat and Assam (they said on Tuesday that they will return to Mumbai soon) the national party refused to make any public statements and maintained that it was an internal Sena matter.
At the time of going to press, the Raj Bhavan had not released any official communique on the BJP’S request for a floor test.
Legal experts indicated that the governor may order a floor test within the next few days but Sena leaders argued that any such move will be legally challenged as disqualification proceedings against 16 rebels are still pending (though the dissidents have got protection from the Supreme Court till July 11). Moreover, with acting speaker