Eknath Shinde government faces trust vote on July 4

It requires the support of 145 MLAs in the Assembly; both factions of Shiv Sena violate whips issued by the other group for the Speaker election

Amid beginning of a legal battle between the two factions of the Shiv Sena — one led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the other by rebel leader and new Chief Minister Eknath Shinde — both groups of the party violated the whips issued by the other group for the Speaker’s election in the Maharashtra Assembly.

On Sunday, the two-day Assembly session was convened to elect the new Speaker and the floor test is slated to be held on Monday. Rahul Narvekar form the BJP was elected Speaker after he garnered 164 votes.

The faction led by Mr. Shinde supported Mr. Narvekar, who received 164 votes against 107 votes of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nominee Rajan Salvi. Mr. Salvi is a Shiv Sena MLA from Rajapur in Ratnagiri district.

The newly sworn-in duo of Mr. Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis faced its first test in the Assembly in the form of Speaker’s election. The new government, formed after Mr. Shinde rebelled against Shiv Sena president Mr. Thackeray, will face the trust vote on Monday. In the 287-member Assembly (original strength 288 is reduced by one following the death of one Sena MLA), the government would require 145 MLAs. Going by the happenings during the Speaker vote, the trust vote could be a mere formality.

On Sunday, after the House was convened, Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal announced the programme of Speaker election as directed by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. In a sarcastic tone, Nationalist Congress party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil congratulated the Governor for giving the go-ahead to the election after the formation of a new government. “For more than one-and-a-half years, he didn’t allow us to conduct the election. Now we understand the reason behind it,” Mr. Patil taunted.

BJP MLA Chandrakant Patil presented the resolution nominating Mr. Narvekar for the Speaker post, seconded by Girish Mahajan. The MVA fielded Mr. Salvi as its candidate. The BJP‘s resolution was accepted by voice vote and Mr. Zirwal directed head count of those in support and in opposition.