Mumbai: The new Maharashtra government led by Eknath Shinde passed its first major test in the state assembly on Sunday as its contender Rahul Narvekar won the Speaker’s election by a comfortable margin.
Narvekar, a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shinde-led rebel Shiv Sena group, secured 164 votes in the assembly. He defeated Rajan Salvi – the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress jointly contested as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – who got 107 votes.
Of the 164 votes Narvekar got, 104 were from the BJP (two were absent), 39 were from the rebels of the Shinde camp, and the rest were independents and smaller parties.
At present there are 287 members in the Vidhan Sabha. Narvekar is a BJP MLA from Mumbai’s Colaba constituency, while Salvi is a Shiv Sena MLA from Ratnagiri’s Rajapur constituency.
Three members of the assembly – two from the Samajwadi Party and one from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen – cast a neutral vote. A total of 275 members including Deputy Speaker Narhari Jirwal and 274 MLAs were present in the House. Everyone present voted, except for Zirwal, as he was in charge of the proceedings.
The post of President was lying vacant since the time of Nana Patole of Congress. stepped down To assume the post of Maharashtra Congress President in February 2021. After the election of the speaker, the floor test of the new government will be held on Monday.
Speaking in the state assembly on Sunday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said: “I was the urban development minister (in the erstwhile MVA government). I got down and eight or nine ministers got down with me. We all know that there was power on one side and common people on the other. soldier (Soldiers) Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe sir, I am lucky that these (rebel) MLAs believed in a common worker Like me,” said Shinde.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu said in the House, ‘History will never forget 39 members’. (Rebel MLA of Shiv Sena) Ignored a party whip and voted against its candidate. All the 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, who did not go to the Shinde camp, were present in the assembly on Sunday.
Earlier this month, a group of MLAs led by Shinde rebelled against the Shiv Sena and broke away from the MVA. Due to this Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray resigned from the post of Chief Minister and the MVA government fell.
The Shinde camp then formed a government in alliance with the BJP, with Shinde at the helm and BJP leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy. Both took oath last Thursday.
“Many claims were made to humiliate me by spreading rumors that 10-15 MLAs are in touch (with the Uddhav camp). I said name me, I will hire a flight and send them back,” Shinde further said in the House.
CM was referring to the claims of the Thackeray camp that there are many rebel MLAs. were being held against their wishes and wanted to return.
Why was the election of the president important?
The election of the Speaker of the Assembly was an important event for the newly formed government of BJP and the rebel faction of Shiv Sena.
Having their own president will help the Shiv Sena rebels deal with disqualification notices issued to some of them by deputy speaker Narhari Jirwal after parting ways from the erstwhile MVA government.
With BJP MLA Narvekar as its president, Shiv Sena rebels have also been shielded from claims by the Thackeray camp that the rebels had not obeyed the party’s whip.
Shiv Sena was hoping 39 rebel MLAs will be disqualified for not voting in favor of their candidate Salvi. Accordingly, Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu issued a letter on Saturday directing all 55 MLAs of the party to be present in the assembly and vote for their candidate.
Shiv Sena’s Prabhu had also approached the Supreme Court seeking suspension of CM Shinde and 15 MLAs, against whom disqualification proceedings are pending. The court said it was “fully aware” of the issue, but agreed to hear it on July 11, along with the main petition of the 16 rebel MLAs against the disqualification notice.
Shiv Sena President Thackeray on Friday, Letter Addressing Shinde, he was removed from the post of the party’s ‘leader’, topping its leaders saying, “You have been indulging in anti-party activities and have also voluntarily given up the membership of Shiv Sena.”
Rebel MLAs return to Mumbai
Shiv Sena rebels Those who were first accommodated in a hotel in Surat, then in Guwahati and finally in Goa — Returned to Mumbai by flight on Saturday evening. He was then taken from the airport’s domestic terminal Santa Cruz to the Taj President Hotel in Cuffe Parade.
CM Shinde also covered the distance between the airport and the hotel by bus with the MLAs of his faction to show solidarity. The police had cleared the entire road as a green corridor.
At the Taj president, the rebel MLAs held a joint meeting with BJP MLAs, who were already in the hotel, addressed by CM Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis.
MLA went away Directly from hotel to Vidhan Bhavan for session about two kilometer away.
This report has been updated to reflect the results of the presidential election.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Read also: Goa party reversing Aarey’s decision, rain relief meeting – Eknath Shinde’s first day as CM