Maharashtra will be in focus later this week with the election of the Speaker of the state assembly on Sunday after the new Eknath Shinde government came to power following the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime. State.
The stage for political developments in Maharashtra has been set with the return of MLAs who rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray under Shinde’s leadership from Goa to Mumbai.
Shinde, who led a rebellion against Shiv Sena chief and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, took oath as chief minister, while former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was seen as the front-runner for the top post in the government, took the oath of office. . as Deputy Chief Minister.
Notably, the MVA has fielded Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi as the candidate for the Speaker’s election, while BJP MLA Rahul Narvekar has been chosen as the candidate for the post of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker. Shiv Sena has issued a strict warning to its MLAs to be present in the assembly today.
The Speaker’s post in the Assembly fell vacant after Congress’ Nana Patole resigned as the party’s state unit chief in February 2021. In the absence of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker Narhari Jirwal was working as the Acting Speaker of the House.
Meanwhile, a day after Thackeray’s resignation as chief minister, Shinde and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and staked claim to form the government in the state.
Fadnavis, who was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014-19, announced at a joint press conference in Mumbai on Thursday that he would not be part of the government. However, later on the instructions of the BJP’s central leadership, Fadnavis took oath as the Deputy CM.
The Eknath Shinde camp, which had been mostly in Guwahati during the rebellion, said the Congress and the NCP are rivals of the Shiv Sena. He had earlier urged Uddhav Thackeray to forge a ‘natural alliance’ with the BJP.
Thackeray resigned on Wednesday after the Shinde-led group continued to induct more MLAs and the Supreme Court proceeded for a floor test in the assembly.
BJP and Shiv Sena had fought the 2019 assembly elections together but differences arose over the chief minister’s post.
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is being in session for the first time after political upheaval in the state.
After the Speaker is elected, the Shinde government is expected to face the next floor test. The process of allocation of portfolios will also be closely monitored and the BJP is likely to have an important ministry.
The two-day special session of the Vidhan Sabha is starting from today. The Shinde-Fadnavis government will have to prove its majority on the floor of the House in a trust vote on Monday.
Team Shinde now includes 38 out of 55 MLAs from Shiv Sena, nine Independents and two MLAs from other parties. The BJP has 105 MLAs in the 288-member state assembly.
After the return of about 50 MLAs from Goa, Shinde and Fadnavis also held a meeting of MLAs late on Saturday night.