Maha CM Eknath Shinde wins House confidence with 164 votes

Mumbai, July 4 (IANS) As expected, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's government supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday won the critical 'vote of confidence' in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

In the final tally with a division of votes, the government secured 164 votes and the Opposition got only 99 votes in the 288-member Lower House.

This is the second big legislative victory for the Shinde government -- sworn-in on June 30 along with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis -- in the past two days.

On Sunday, the alliance candidate and BJP's advocate Rahul Narwekar was elected the new Speaker, trouncing the Maha Vikas Aghadi's Shiv Sena nominee Rajan Salvi with a comfortable margin.

Fadnavis congratulated Shiv Sena-BJP Chief Minister Shinde, a disciple of late Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe, for winning the trust vote with a handsome margin.

The Speaker's election followed by the trust vote for the Shinde-led government came on the second day of the 2-day Special Session of the Assembly convened by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.