All eyes on Maharashtra as it gears up for Assembly Speaker election today
PremiumThe stage is all set for political events that will unfold in Maharashtra this weekend during the two-day special Assembly session
Maharashtra will remain in focus this weekend with the election of the Speaker for the State Assembly all set to take place on Sunday after the new Eknath Shinde government took over following the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) rule in the state.
With the return of the MLAs, who revolted against Uddhav Thackeray under the leadership of Shinde, to Mumbai from Goa, the stage is all set for political developments in Maharashtra to take place.
Shinde, who led the revolt against Shiv Sena chief and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, was sworn in as the Chief Minister while former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who was seen as the front-runner for the top post in the government, took oath of office as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Notably, the MVA has fielded Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi as a candidate for the Speaker election while BJP MLA Rahul Narwekar has been chosen as a candidate for the post of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker. Shiv Sena has issued strict warning to its legislators to be present in the Assembly today.
The post of the Speaker went vacant in the Assembly after Congress' Nana Patole resigned from the office in February 2021, to take guard as the party's state unit chief. In the absence of a Speaker, Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal was working as an acting Speaker in the House.
Meanwhile, a day after the resignation of Thackeray from the chief ministerial post, Shinde and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and staked claim to form the government in the state.
Fadnavis, who was Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014-19, announced at a joint press conference in Mumbai on Thursday that he will not be part of the government. However, later, on the direction of the BJP's central leadership, Fadnavis took oath as the Deputy CM.
The Eknath Shinde camp, which had stayed mostly in Guwahati during the revolt, said that Congress and NCP are Shiv Sena's rivals. They had earlier urged Uddhav Thackeray to stitch a ‘natural alliance’ with the BJP.
Thackeray resigned on Wednesday after the Shinde-led group kept on adding expanding wit more MLAs joining in and the Supreme Court gave a go-ahead for a floor test in the assembly.
BJP and Shiv Sena had fought the 2019 assembly polls together but differences cropped up over the post of Chief Minister.
Maharashtra assembly session is being held for the first time after political turmoil unfolded in the state
After the speaker is elected, the Shinde government is expected to face the floor test next. The process of distribution of portfolios will also be keenly watched and the BJP is likely to keep the important ministries.
The two-day special session of the Assembly will begin today. The Shinde-Fadnavis government will have to prove its majority on the Floor of the House on Monday in Vote of Confidence.
Team Shinde now includes 38 of 55 Shiv Sena MLAs, nine independents and two MLAs from another party. The BJP has 105 MLAs in the 288-member state assembly.
Shinde and Fadnavis also held a meeting of the legislators late on Saturday night after the return of about 50 MLAs from Goa.