Maharashtra crisis: Uddhav Thackeray must face floor test, has lost majority, says Fadnavis after meeting Governor

File image of former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis (centre) (Image: PTI)

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has lost the majority, and must face an immediate floor test, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis said on June 28, shortly after meeting state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

"We have given a letter to Maharashtra governor and told him that the 39 Shiv Sena MLAs are saying that they don't want to be with NCP and Congress government. It shows that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has lost the majority," news agency ANI quoted Fadnavis as saying following his meeting with Koshyari.

"We have requested the governor to direct the chief minister to immediately prove his majority through floor test," added Fadnavis, who is also the leader of opposition in the state assembly.

Earlier, a fake letter was circulated on social media, claiming that Koshyari has asked Thackeray to undertake a floor test at 11 am on June 30.

"A letter in circulation on social media about Maharashtra Governor asking for a floor test in the Legislative Assembly on 30th June is fake," Maharashtra Raj Bhawan said in a statement.

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The political crisis in Maharashtra erupted on June 21, after more than a dozen MLAs of the Shiv Sena - a constituent of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state - went to Gujarat's Surat and turned incommunicado.

The number of rebel Sena legislators grew rapidly, as they were shifted to Guwahati, in BJP-ruled Assam. The rebel group is led by Eknath Shinde, a state cabinet minister who was considered to be a trusted lieutenant of Thackeray.

The MVA government, through Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, had sent disqualification notices to 16 Sena rebel MLAs last week. The action against them, however, has been stayed by the Supreme Court till July 12.