Rajendra Bhagwat issued notices to 53 of all 55 MLAs under the Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Grounds of Defection) Rules
Maharashtra legislature’s principal Rajendra Bhagwat, in an unprecedented move, has issued show-cause notices to 53 legislators – 39 Shiv Sena MLAs of CM Eknath Shinde’s side and 14 from Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s group, a Times of India report said.
Each camp has accused the other of defying the whip during the speaker’s poll and the trust vote on July 3 and 4 and sought their disqualification. Aaditya Thackeray’s name does not figure on the list given by Shinde’s camp. Shiv Sena has 55 MLAs.
Bhagwat issued notices to 53 of all 55 MLAs under the Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Grounds of Defection) Rules. The MLAs have been directed to respond within seven days.
Shinde on July 4 comfortably won the trust vote. In the 288-member Assembly (effective strength 287), 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence moved by the Shinde-led government, way above the simple majority mark of 144, while 99 voted against it on the last day of the two-day special session of the House. As many as 263 MLAs cast their vote.
Three MLAs abstained, while 20 legislators, most of them from Congress and the NCP, including Congress’s Ashok Chavan and Vijay Wadettiwar, both former ministers, were absent during the trust vote. Speaker Rahul Narvekar, who presided over the proceedings, did not cast his vote. Narvekar announced that the trust vote was carried by a majority vote.
Ahead of the floor test, Sena MLA Santosh Bangar, from the Uddhav Thackeray camp, joined Shinde’s faction, taking its tally to 40.
