The election for the post of Maharashtra Assembly speaker is crucial in view of the recent turn of events in the state.
Mumbai: Before the new government must demonstrate majority in the assembly on Monday, the Maharashtra Assembly will choose a new speaker today.
Rahul Narvekar of the BJP and MLA Rajan Salvi will compete for the position of speaker today. While Mr. Salvi is the MLA from the Rajapur segment in the Ratnagiri district, Mr. Narvekar represents the Colaba Assembly constituency in Mumbai.
Since Nana Patole of Congress resigned in February 2021 to become his party’s state unit president, the position of Assembly Speaker has been vacant. Acting Speaker since the absence of the Speaker was Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal.
Given the recent turn of events in the state, the election for Assembly Speaker is quite important. According to legal experts, the Speaker may decide to drop the disqualification charges against 16 rebel MLAs, including newly-installed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal gave them the disqualification notifications last month.
Experts think the organisation won’t need to join forces with any other political party if the Speaker recognises the Shinde faction as the “genuine” Shiv Sena. Eknath Shinde has asserted that, with a 2/3rd majority, he is the Sena’s legislative party leader.
On Monday, the assembly will put the Eknath Shinde administration to the test. Last night, Mr. Shinde and 50 MLAs, including 39 Sena rebels, returned to Mumbai.
For “anti-party acts,” Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray ousted Mr. Shinde as party leader on Friday. As the “true” Sena at this point, the Shinde group claims it will appeal the ruling.
The conflict now centres on seizing control of the Shiv Sena, the organisation Mr. Thackeray’s father Bal Thackeray established and which helped the Shinde camp form the government.
On Wednesday, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as chief minister after the Supreme Court declined to block the governor’s-ordered no-trust vote in the legislature.
On July 11, the Supreme Court will hear Sunil Prabhu, the Shiv Sena top whip, who is requesting the suspension of 16 rebel MLAs who are the subject of outstanding disqualification petitions. The top court will also hear petitions filed by the Shinde group contesting their disqualification on the same day.
The Supreme Court extended the rebels’ time to respond to the disqualification notices until July 12 last month. The Shinde side had argued in its submission that the Deputy Speaker was under attack and so unable to decide whether or not to disqualify them.
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