The Hindu : Govt. will last its term: Deshmukh

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Friday, Jun 14, 2002

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Govt. will last its term: Deshmukh

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI JUNE 13. The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, today ruled out the possibility of mid-term polls, saying that the Democratic Front Government would complete its five-year term.

Talking to presspersons after winning the confidence vote in the Assembly, he said that the number of MLAs who had voted for his Government was on expected lines. He alleged that the Opposition had tried to pull down his Government by using money and muscle power but had failed miserably.

Mr. Deshmukh said that the Peasants and Workers Party was part of the DF, despite choosing to remain neutral in today's vote. He also did not rule out a possibility of the expansion of his Cabinet.

His deputy, Chhagan Bhujbal, said that the vote was a triumph of democracy over `goondaism' and `mafiaism'. "We became sure of our victory on Wednesday after the Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray, distanced himself from activities such as the abduction and illegal confinement of MLAs."

The Leader of the Opposition, Narayan Rane (Shiv Sena), and the BJP leader, Gopinath Munde, blamed "the Speaker's partisan verdict" for their failure to defeat the Government in the vote of confidence. They told presspersons that the Janata Dal member, Gangaram Thakkerwad, had not defected but split the party as the JD had only two MLAs.

They claimed that they had at least four more votes but had asked the MLAs not to vote against the motion to avoid disqualification.

Even though they had lost the motion, they said they enjoyed the support of 133 members, up from 125 when the Government was sworn in.

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