Mumbai, March 23 (IANS) In an unprecedented development, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday stumped the opposition by moving a 'confidence motion' in favour of Speaker Haribhau Bagade which was passed by a voice vote in the state assembly.
The opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party -- which submitted a notice for bringing a 'no-confidence move' against the Speaker on March 5, alleging him of bias in conducting the house proceedings -- were caught completely unawares and vehemently protested.
However, Fadnavis defended the move citing a precedent set in July 2006 when then Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh moved a motion that the House expresses 'confidence in the council of ministers' after the then opposition moved a 'no-confidence' motion against his government.
"There is a precedent for such a confidence motion... We have adhered to the rules. What was legal then is legal and correct in the procedure even now. The proceedings of the Assembly are as per rules so the no-confidence motion (against the Speaker) cannot be taken up," Fadnavis said amidst a huge uproar in the House.
The developments followed after the Chief Minister abruptly got up and moved the 'confidence motion' in favour of the Speaker.
"The Legislative Assembly expresses confidence in Speaker Haribhau Bagade," said the motion which was seconded by ruling ally Shiv Sena's PWD Minister Eknath Shinde and put to vote.
The presiding officer, Sudhakar Deshmukh (in the chair at that time), put the motion to vote and it was passed by a voice vote, after which the House was adjourned for 15 minutes.
The opposition parties' members were left shell-shocked as they did not get an opportunity to speak, especially since they had been demanding for the past two days that the 'no-confidence' motion against the Speaker be admitted and taken up for a debate.
Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil sought to know why the opposition's notice of 'no-confidence' was not taken up in the day's agenda despite it being submitted on March 5 and the 14-day processing period was completed.
As the opposition members protested loudly, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party members raised slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram', while the House continued with other businesses of the day.
Later, a delegation of opposition leaders including Vikhe-Patil, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, ex-ministers Naseem Khan (all Congress) and former Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil and ex-minister Jayant Patil (of NCP) met Governor C.V. Rao and apprised him of the developments.
"How can this happen when the matter (of 'confidence motion') was not even listed in the day's agenda... and suddenly, the CM moves the 'confidence motion' in the House," Vikhe-Patil said.
"We had given the notice of 'no confidence' on March 5 and 14 working days had passed... We wanted to take up the matter, but before we could even speak, the 'confidence motion' was moved."
On the issue of the precedent cited by Fadnavis, former Speaker and NCP leader explained that at that time, the 'no confidence motion' was against the government and not against the Speaker.
"In the current case, he (Bagade) is the Speaker, so there is no question of a confidence motion... Even though we don't have the requisite numbers, we wanted to express our sentiments through the 'no confidence' motion. This has never happened in the parliamentary history of Maharashtra," Walse-Patil said.
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