Fadnavis govt sails through Maha trust vote

The Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry on Monday sailed through a trust vote in the Maharashtra assembly.

The trust motion, tabled by Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant and others, was passed by a voice vote.

Speaker Rahul Narwekar announced that the trust motion has been approved by the House.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party 'Mahayuti' coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats in the 288-member state assembly.

The majority mark in the assembly is 144.

"The confidence motion has been passed with a majority. The legislative assembly will adjourn now and will resume after the speech of the Maharashtra governor today," Narwekar said in the assembly.

Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister for the third time on December 5. Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief ministers at the ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai.

The 15th legislative assembly officially began its tenure on December 7.

With the BJP-led alliance securing 230 seats in the 288-member lower House, the floor test was a mere formality.

Shiv Sena leader and former minister Uday Samant, BJP legislator Sanjay Kute, senior NCP leader and former minister Dilip Walse Patil, and independent MLA Ravi Rana tabled the proposal for a confidence motion in the Lower House.

With Narwekar's appointment as Speaker, the Mahayuti coalition now holds the support of 229 MLAs, including small parties and independent MLAs.

The party positions in the 15th assembly are:

Mahayuti - BJP 132 MLAs; Shiv Sena 57; NCP 41; Jan Surabaya Shakti Party 2; Rashtriya Yuva Swabhiman Party 1; Rashtriya Samaj Paksh 1; Independents 2; Rajarshi Shahu Vikas Aghadi 1.

Opposition - Shiv Sena (UBT) 20 MLAs; Congress 16; NCP (SP) 10; CPM 1; PWP 1; AIMIM 1; Samajwadi Party 2.