'Obvious that Sena will vote against the BJP-led govt'

Shiv Sena has named Eknath Shinde as its candidate for leader of opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, signalling a complete breakdown of talks with the BJP. Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com reports

After being snubbed and being ‘humiliated’ by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena has decided to sit in the opposition in the and has announced Eknath Shinde to be its candidate for leader of the opposition in the 288-member assembly.

Sena spokesperson Dr Neelam Gorhe said that since party chief Uddhav Thackeray had announced Eknath Shinde as the leader of opposition, it was ‘obvious that the party would vote against the BJP-led government on the floor of the house’.

However, Dr Gorhe added that Thackeray would clarify the strategy the party would implement on the floor of the house.

The Sena, with its 63 elected lawmakers, emerged as the second largest party in the recently concluded elections after their 25-year long alliance with the BJP ended right before the polls.

The Devendra Fadnavis-led government has to prove its majority on the floor of the house on November 12, before the winter session of the assembly begins later this month.  

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Gorhe blaming the BJP’s ‘lack of transparency’ in dealing with the Sena over sharing power in the state for the present state of affairs, refused to comment if both the parties were still engaged in a last minute dialogue and if something concrete would materialise before the test of strength on the floor of the house. 

Interestingly, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party had announced its unilateral, unconditional support to the BJP government the day election results were declared on October 19, checkmating the Shiv Sena, which otherwise would have bargained hard with its former ally for its share in the cabinet and government formation.

Even if the Sena votes against the government, Fadnavis's minority government with 122 elected MLAs would still easily win the confidence motion with the help of independent MLAs and the fact that NCP will abstain from voting on the floor of the house.