MUMBAI, June 15: The rumour mill never stops spinning and elections invariably push it into top gear, says Chief Minister Manohar Joshi. Nettled by the 44 Independent legislators propping up his minority government since it took over in March 1995 and beset by allegations of their wavering support, Joshi says he is not in the least bit perturbed, even on the eve of the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council.His Shiv Sena-led alliance government will not topple despite the Independents' alleged dalliance with the Opposition Congress, Joshi told The Indian Express."There is absolutely no threat to the three-year-old Sena-BJP government. By and large, the Independent legislators are with the alliance and as such it is a stable government," he says.Reports of the Independents' leaning towards the Congress have repeatedly surfaced but that never happened as most of them have stood by the alliance, Joshi points out.He also dismissed claims by Opposition leader ChhaganBhujbal that a record 40 of the 44 Independent legislators plan to become "associate members" of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).Last week, more than 18 legislators led by Rajwardhan Kadambande had called on former chief minister Sharad Pawar saying they wanted to join the CLP as its associate members. However, the plan was abandoned for fear of attracting the Anti-Defection Law.A senior Congress leader had also claimed that some ministers of state representing the Independent legislators were also planning to join the Congress, threatening the very existence of Joshi's government.But an unruffled Joshi says the rumour mills never stop. In fact, it becomes more active during biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council since the Independents play a vital role. "I am sure the Independent legislators, who are with the government will vote in favour of the Shiv Sena and BJP nominees," Joshi says.With equal ease, he dismissed any threat from rebel leader Ganesh Naik, who wasrecently dumped from the state Cabinet. He says the dismissed forest and environment minister had stated on record that he would abide by the party whip. "Under such circumstances, I do not think Naik will help either the Congress or any other Opposition party in the Rajya Sabha or Legislative Council elections," Joshi asserts.For the Rajya Sabha elections, the Sena has fielded Satish Pradhan and media personality Pritish Nandy, while the BJP has nominated former advisor to the prime minister, Pramod Mahajan. Newspaper owner Vijay Darda and former railway minister Suresh Kalmadi are contesting as Independents, while the Congress has re-nominated Najma Heptullah and retired bureaucrat Ram Pradhan.
