After the newly formed Maharashtra government of rebel Shiv Sena leader and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde won the trust vote in the Assembly on Monday, Mr. Shinde claimed that he could have become the Chief Minister back in 2019, but his party did not allow it.
“When the Maha Vikas Aghadi was formed and meetings were being held, all were agreed on my name and later I was told by Ajit dada that though the other two parties had no problem, it was the Sena that decided against it,” said Mr. Shinde in his speech in the Assembly. He was replying to the discussion on the resolution moved by Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to congratulate him on winning the trust vote.
The new government won the trust vote with 164 MLAs voting in favour and 99 voting against it. Interestingly, two Nationalist Congress Party and seven Congress MLAs remained absent during the vote, including former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. Later Mr. Chavan and the other MLAs claimed that they arrived late and the Assembly doors were closed for voting. Mr. Fadnavis, while thanking all those who voted for the government, also said that he was grateful to those who remained invisible during the vote.
