BJP’s Rahul Narwekar Elected New Maharashtra Assembly Speaker

BJP's Rahul Narwekar was elected as the new Maharashtra Assembly Speaker after he crossed the majority mark by winning 164 votes.

New Delhi: BJP’s Rahul Narwekar was elected as the new Maharashtra Assembly Speaker after he crossed the majority mark by winning 164 votes. Rahul Narwekar defeated Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi who received 107 votes. The two-day special session of the 288-member House got underway Sunday at 11 am. This comes a day before Eknath Shinde-led government will face floor test in the Assembly to prove its majority in the House on Monday. The post of Speaker was vacant since February last year after Nana Patole of Congress quit.

Rahul Narwekar had been associated with the Shiv Sena as well as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the past. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Narwekar contested from the Maval constituency on the NCP’s ticket, but lost. Subsequently, he switched to the BJP in 2019 and got elected as its Colaba MLA. He is currently the state BJP’s media in-charge too.

Maharashtra political situation | Top developments

• Speaking at the Maharashtra Assembly after Narwekar’s win, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said BJP-Shiv Sena government will fulfill all aspirations of the state. “This government of BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, under the leadership of Eknath Shinde, will try to fulfill all the aspirations of Maharashtra and we hope that you (Speaker) will give a good co-operation for the same,” Fadnavis said.
• Ahead of the two-day special session of the Maharashtra Assembly that began on Sunday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction sealed the legislative party office in the Vidhan Bhavan.
• A white paper was stuck with a plastic tape on the closed doors of the Sena legislative party office in the Vidhan Bhavan, with a message in Marathi written on it saying, “The office is closed as per instructions of the Shiv Sena legislative party
• The four-day old Shiv Sena-BJP government will face the floor test on July 4 during the special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly that began on Sunday.
• Shiv Sena’s rebel MLA Deepak Kesarkar on Saturday said that they will not celebrate victory of the floor test, however there will be a grand celebration when the state of Maharashtra achieves considerable development.