BOMBAY, 13 June — A day before a crucial vote of confidence in the state assembly, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh expressed confidence yesterday that his Democratic Front (DF) government will win the motion by at least nine votes.
While speaking to newsmen, Deshmukh charged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders at the center with plotting to topple his ministry by creating rifts within the DF alliance. He accused Communictions Minister Pramod Mahajan and Law Minister Arun Jaitley of playing a key role in engineering the defections of some alliance MLAs to the BJP.
Deshmukh was confident that his government will complete its full five-year term. He also indicated that he will reshuffle the Cabinet after winning today’s no-trust motion. Two members of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CMP) yesterday returned to the DF fold and agreed to support the government.
The Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) was still deliberating whether to extend support. At parleys with PWP leaders, Deshmukh agreed to a number of their demands, including paying higher prices for agricultural produce and reducing power tariff to stay in office, sources in the ruling coalition said.
All eyes are now on the eight legislators of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Janata Dal (S) and the Congress who reportedly rebelled against their ruling parties to back the opposition combine.
All of them are facing disqualification from the assembly for “withdrawing” support to the government. Speaker Arun Gujarati will decide on their fate a few hours before the trust vote.
Meanwhile, Governor P.C. Alexander accepted the resignation of Minister of State Sunil Tatkare whose recent induction into the Cabinet had triggered the present crisis which has brought the government machinery to a standstill for the past two weeks.
