While the BJP’s Rahul Narvekar was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly on Sunday, the Opposition leaders questioned the stability of the rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra.
The two-day special session of the State Assembly started on Monday. The first event was to elect the Speaker. Narvekar, who polled 164 votes, defeated Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi, who got 107 votes.
Narvekar (45) is the youngest ever Assembly Speaker in the country, said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Narvekar’s father-in-law Ramraje Naik- Nimbalkar of NCP is the chairperson of the Legislative Council. The Eknath Shinde-led government will face a floor test in the Assembly on Monday.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar asked BJP legislators whether they were happy with the arrangement of Shinde as the Chief Minister and Fadnavis as his deputy. Pawar said that all the BJP leaders who had toiled for the party for decades were pushed to back benches, and turncoats were dominating the BJP.
Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Prabhu said that he was not sure how long the government would survive as the disqualification plea against rebel Shiv Sena leaders is pending in Court.
Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat questioned the new political equation in the State Assembly and its sustainability. Thorat launched an attack on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, saying his party had been demanding the election for Speaker for some time, but it seems “the governor was sleeping for one-and-a-half years”.