Fadnavis Government wins trust vote in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly

BJP Government led by Devendra Fadnavis has won the trust vote in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly through voice vote. The decision of voice vote was made by newly elected speaker Haribhau Bagde. The confidence motion by the voice vote was moved by senior BJP leader Ashish Shelar.
Earlier on that day, BJP’s leader Haribhau Bagde was elected unanimously as speaker of Maharashtra assembly, after Shiv Sena and Congress withdrew the nominations of their candidates.
On the same day, Speaker Haribhau Bagade had announced that Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde will be the opposition leader of the house.
Speaker’s decision of voice vote was criticised by Shiv Sena and Congress. Congress has decided to meet the Governor and demand to take the trust vote again through division vote instead of voice vote.

Voice Vote versus Division vote

When a motion is put to voice vote the speaker says, ‘Those in the favour of the motion say Aye and those opposing it say No.’ According to the voice vote, the Speaker decides whether the motion/Bill is accepted or negated by the House. If a member is not happy with a voice vote, it can be challenged and a division vote can be asked for.
Division vote is a process in which legislators press buttons on Automatic Vote Recording machine to record their votes, which are then counted. No voting record of individual MLA’s/MPs is available in Division vote. When a division is asked for, there is a record of total number of votes for and against, but no details of individual votes are maintained. Most motions and legislation are passed through voice-votes.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2014