MUMBAI, March 22: Sacked Shiv Sena ministers Ganesh Naik, Suresh Nawale and Gulabrao Gawande today deposed before the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker to explain their absence in the House during the motion of confidence on the Narayan Rane Ministry on February 17.CM Rane, in a petition to the Speaker, had demanded that the trio be disqualified from the House for flouting a Sena legislature party whip in this regard. The three dissident MLAs told reporters at Vidhan Bhawan that they, along with their joint legal advisor, Marzban Patrawala, a former Congress minister, met the Speaker at the latter's office in Vidhan Bhawan following the summons.``We submitted written representations and necessary documents to the Speaker to substantiate our claim about illness as being the cause of our absence during the trust vote,'' Naik said.While Naik said it was a mere coincidence that the three of them fell sick at the same time, Nawale said it was a ``miracle in Shivshahi''.Naik also announced thatShivshakti, the social outfit floated by him, would hold a convention at Pandharpur on March 30 and reiterated his resolve to float a new political party. He did not rule out his party's tie-up with either Congress or BJP.saying, ``We will have pact with parties who have a humanitarian approach.''
