
BJP reaches out to Shiv Sena, gets support for no-confidence motion
New Delhi, July 19 (IBNS): Following a phone call from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has agreed to lend his support to the saffron party for the no-confidence motion, which will be debated in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Shah dialed Thackeray after Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said his party chief will decide on which side their 18 Lok Sabha MPs will vote during the no-confidence motion.
The development came amid an embittered relationship between the BJP and the Sena.
Of late, on multiple occasions, the Sena had criticised its bigger ally, the BJP.
On Wednesday, the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) moved a no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha.
The motion, which has been brought with the demand of a special status for Andhra Pradesh, will be taken up on Friday.
The Congress, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have extended their support to TDP's motion.
The BJP, which has majority in the lower house along with its allies, said it is ready for the motion.
With 314 members in the lower house of Parliament, the no-trust motion is not a threat to the BJP-led NDA government since the number is more than the half-way mark (272).