Devendra Fadnavis slams Sena-NCP-Cong alliance for conducting “unconstitutional” and “illegal” Assembly session

The NCP-Congress-Shiv Sena coalition government has already betrayed the electoral mandate of the people of Maharashtra in favour of a MahaYuti government. Now, as per former Maharashtra CM, Devendra Fadnavis’ the proceedings of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly have also been conducted in an unconstitutional manner. Claiming that the session conducted of the Assembly was “illegal” and “unconstitutional”, he said that he will submit a letter to the Governor, BS Koshiyari asking him to suspend the proceedings.

After the opposition staged a walk out from the Assembly, Fadnavis said, “We are going to submit a letter to the Governor asking him to suspend the proceedings of the House, and that the House should follow the Constitution.” He also cast aspersions on the appointment of the Pro-tem Speaker, and said, “This session is unconstitutional and illegal. Appointment of Pro-tem Speaker was also unconstitutional.” Earlier, during his speech on the floor of the House, Fadnavis had pointed out a major peculiarity in the House proceedings and raised concern about how the Pro-tem was changed. He also stated that never in the history of country, a Pro-tem speaker was changed. He further said that there is no provision allowing removal of a Pro-tem Speaker.

Elaborating further, Devendra Fadnavis pointed out that the coalition was scared despite having 170 MLAs, and feared that some of them might secretly vote against the alliance during the floor test, and that is why a new Pro-tem Speaker was appointed. He also said, “Never in the history of Maharashtra Assembly, a trust vote was conducted without electing a Speaker.” He reiterated that the election of the regular Speaker takes place through secret ballot. And the coalition government knows that there is so much of resentment with its MLAs that the coalition wouldn’t have been able to get a Speaker of its choice elected. This would have put the coalition government in an awkward position and that is why it decided to go ahead with the trust vote without the election of a regular Speaker.

As soon as the session begun, the former Maharashtra CM also pointed out that the special session was also in violation of the rules as it took place without the ceremonial singing of ‘Vande Matram’. He said, “Assembly starts with Vande Matram and ends with National Anthem when it is called. This session started without Vande Mataram that is the reason it’s violating the rules.”

Devendra Fadnavis has pointed out another irregularity in the proceedings of the House. He said that the BJP lawmakers were informed late about the session. Raising questions at this move he wondered if it was done so that the BJP MLAs are not able to reach the Assembly during the trust vote.

Every irregularity that the former Maharashtra CM has pointed out is a substantial defect as they defeat the very purpose of conducting a floor test and proving the legitimacy of the government, rather than mere technical defects. The coalition government has blocked Fadnavis’ return for a second term as the Chief Minister of the state in a mischievous and treacherous manner, and now even the floor test seems to have been conducted in a deceptive manner.