Devendra Fadnavis's CM life starts with controversy in Maharashtra; Governor bruised

Mumbai, Nov 13: Devendra Fadnavis impressed everyone with a clean image. He did not have any corruption allegations, neither faced any controversy so far. But his career life as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra began with a different way. Protest erupted in the state and the Governor C Vidyasagar Rao suffered minor injuries on Wednesday, Nov 12. [New Maharashtra CM: Who is Modi's favourite Devendra Fadnavis?]

All hullabaloos began when Congress and Shiv Sena MLAs started protesting against the controversial confidence motion that Fadnavis' minority BJP government had won by voice vote on Wednesday.

At least five Congress MLAs have been suspended as they were accused of manhandling and injuring the governor inside the state assembly premises.

According to sources, both Congress and Shiv Sena legislatures blocked the governor's way as he tried to enter the assembly. MLAs of both the parties were protesting against the decision taken by the new appointed Speaker Haribhau Bagde. The Speaker took the decision not to hold a division vote, in which votes are recorded and counted. Instead the Speaker opted for voice vote.

While BJP MLAs and leaders criticised protesting legislators' behaviour inside the assembly, Sena and Congress MLAs criticised the Speaker's decision of not holding vote for the second time.

Former Maharashtra CM and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said, "This is an illegitimate government. We condemn the Speaker's decision to not hold another vote. This is a black day for Maharashtra's democracy."

This is a black day for Maharashtra's democracy: Prithviraj Chavan

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rashid Alvi raised questions regarding the Speaker's decision of suspending Congress MLAs. Alvi asserted, "The Speaker doesn't have the right to take action on anything that takes place outside the Assembly."

The five Congress MLAs, who have been suspended, were -- Amar Kale, Abdul Sattar, Virendra Jagtap, Jai Kumar Gour and Rahul Bondre. All five suspended MLAs claimed that they did not manhandle the Governor.

Prithviraj Chavan too defended the party MLAs while saying, "Unfortunately, Congress did try to block the governor's passage, but we had no intention of insulting the governor."

"However, it's not correct to say the governor was injured. It is not true. We were only trying to block the governor," Chavan added.

The Governor went into the Assembly and delivered his speech. Congress legislators shouted slogans during the speech and walked out before Mr Rao finished.

The protest outside the assembly brought two political rivals -- Shiv Sena and Congress on the same side. The two parties sought a fresh trust vote alleging that the Speaker did not hold a trust vote as the BJP government did not have the numbers. [Read: How Shiv Sena quitting NDA will hurt Modi Govt's big bang reforms agenda]

Meanwhile, a House panel has been set to probe the incident and submit its report during the winter session of the legislature.

OneIndia News