WATCH | BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis meets Maharashtra governor, asks for floor test

After waiting in the wings in the over week-long political drama sparked off by Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde’s rebellion, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday night met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and requested him to ask the Uddhav Thackeray government in the state to prove its majority in the Assembly.

Fadnavis claimed that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition government seemed to be in minority as 39 Sena MLAs who belong to the Shinde faction have said they do not support it.

Citing various Supreme Court judgements, Fadnavis said in the letter submitted to the governor that as majority in the House is "supreme" in parliamentary democracy and essential for a government's existence, he was requesting the governor to ask the chief minister to prove majority at the earliest.

"We handed over a letter to the Governor, requesting him to ask the government to prove its majority through a floor test," the former chief minister told reporters later.

Before meeting the governor around 10 pm, Fadnavis met top BJP leaders in Delhi earlier in the day.

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According to sources, before Fadnavis landed at the Raj Bhavan here, eight Independent MLAs, who were earlier associated with the Shiv Sena, sent emails from Guwahati -- where the rebel group headed by Shinde is camping -- seeking floor test at the earliest claiming that Thackeray government has lost its majority.

At the Raj Bhavan, Fadnavis was accompanied by state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and party leaders Sudhir Mungantiwar, Pravin Darekar, Girish Mahajan and Ashish Shelar.

The letter submitted to the governor noted that the Sena and BJP had contested the 2019 Assembly elections in alliance, but after the poll results, the Sena formed government with Congress and NCP.

As 39 Shiv Sena MLAs are in favour of ending the party's alliance with the Congress and NCP, chief minister Thackeray has lost majority in the Assembly, it claimed.

The rebel Sena MLAs are being threatened, the letter alleged, referring to statements made by Sena MP Sanjay Raut and others. Proof of these threats has been attached, it said.