Sena-BJP back to toppling game in Maharashtra By Shiv Kumar, Indo-Asian News Service
Mumbai, June 24 (IANS) Refusing to be discouraged by their failure to topple the Maharashtra government last week, the opposition combine of Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hatching another plan to dislodge it. The opposition alliance is now working towards defeating the ruling coalition in a legislative vote during the next assembly session beginning July 29, sources in the opposition told IANS here Monday. Over the next month, the Sena-BJP hopes to build bridges with several legislators who support Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's ruling coalition to turn them against the government, a Sena leader said. The Sena-BJP plans to oust Deshmukh by forcing a defeat in a vote on the government's budgetary proposals. If that fails, the opposition could bring a censure motion and force yet another vote, he added. Lending credence to the development, BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde said: "The government will surely collapse during the monsoon session (of the assembly)." He was talking to reporters at Nanded, 700 km from here, during the weekend. The Sena leader, who preferred anonymity, told IANS that several independent legislators as also those from smaller parties in the 288-seat assembly promised to vote against the government or abstain. On June 13, Deshmukh, who belongs to Sonia Gandhi's Congress party, won a trust vote in the assembly 143-133, ending weeks of a charged-up attempt by the opposition to bring down his government. The victory margin would have been narrower but for assembly speaker Arun Gujarathi's decision to disqualify seven legislators who rebelled from Deshmukh's coalition and crossed to the opposition. The seven legislators have since appealed to the Bombay High Court against the speaker's decision. Deshmukh's troubles had begun late in May when a string of resignations and desertions reduced it to a minority. The Sena-BJP claimed it had sufficient numbers to defeat Deshmukh and replace his government. Both Deshmukh's Congress and former defence minister Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party packed off legislators to the neighbouring state of Karnataka to prevent further defections to Sena-BJP. Although he won the vote, Deshmukh has been acutely aware that his problems are far from over. He is, therefore, now wooing smaller parties and independents. Deshmukh said he indicated he could this or next week expand his cabinet to placate many of them. This week, the government announced duty concessions on private ports in a bid to appease the five-legislator Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), whose resignation from the ruling coalition had sparked the crisis for Deshmukh. The PWP saved the day for Deshmukh when it abstained from the trust vote of June 13. But although the government aimed to please PWP leader Jayant Patil who owns a port in Raigad near here, with its decision, it has not had the desired effect. Patil told reporters that he wanted even greater sops. --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
