'Yes, it's an ED (Ekanth-Devendra) govt: Fadnavis after trust vote

Mumbai, July 04: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday countered the opposition claims of ED government and said yes, this government was formed because of ED - "Eknath and Devendra."

Fadnavi's cheeky retort comes in response to the opposition, who shouted "ED" while Pratap Sarnaik was voting in favour of the Shinde-Fadnavis government during the trust vote held today.

Speaking in the House after trust vote, Fadnavis said,"I had once said that I'll come back. But when I said that, several people mocked me. I've come back today and brought him (Eknath Shinde) along with me. I won't take revenge on people who mocked me. I'll forgive them, everything isn't taken to heart in politics."

"Our alliance had received the mandate but we were deliberately taken away from the majority. But with Eknath Shinde, we have once again formed our Govt with Shiv Sena. A true Shivsainik has been made the CM. I became the Deputy CM as per my party's command," Fadnavis added.

The deputy chief minister also assured that there will be no power struggle between Eknath Shinde and the BJP.

"I would have even sat at home had the party told me - the same party that made me a CM. Today I tell you that there will never be a tussle for power in this govt, we'll continue cooperating. People taunt that it's an ED govt. Yes, it's an ED govt-govt of Eknath Devendra," Fadnavis said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde won the floor test in the State Assembly. In the 288-member House, 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence, while 99 voted against it.

Speaker Rahul Narvekar announced that the trust vote has been carried by a majority vote.

After the death of a Shiv Sena MLA recently, the current strength of the Assembly is reduced to 287, thus the majority mark is 144. Shinde was sworn in as CM on June 30, a day after Uddhav Thackeray quit the post. BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the deputy CM.