MLA Santosh Bangar switches loyalty to Eknath Shinde

Even after he publicly appealed rebel Shiv Sena MLAs to return to the party fold, Hingoli district’s Kalamnuri MLA Santosh Bangar on Yesterday's floor test voted in favor of Eknath Shinde. Bangar is the ninth among the 12 Sena MLAs from the Marathwada region to switch loyalty to Shinde.

Eknath Shinde-led government on Monday reached the majority mark of 164 in the Maharashtra Assembly. The trust vote for the Shinde-led government sworn in on June 30 after the collapse of the 31-month-old Maha Vikas Aghadi regime comes on the second day of the two-day Special Session of the Assembly convened by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on July 3-4.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the government cleared its first litmus test when BJP's Advocate Rahul Narwekar a first-time legislator was elected as Speaker of the House with a comfortable margin.