MVA to avoid secret ballot for post of Maha Speaker?
MUMBAI: In an effort to avoid a political slugfest over the appointment of the Speaker in the Maharashtra assembly and prevent the possibility of crossvoting, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government has initiated the process of changing the method of electing the person who will occupy the constitutional post.
The Rules Committee of the state legislature held a meeting on the second day of the monsoon session held last week and proposed that the Speaker be voted through a voice vote or a headcount on the assembly floor instead of secret ballot, which is the method currently employed, HT has learnt.
Four out of 11 members of the committee, which comprises both Opposition leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and from the ruling coalition parties (the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress) met on July 6 and proposed the change.
“The quorum for the meeting is three. Four members were present for the meeting, including Congress’s Prithviraj Chavan, Shiv Sena’s Subhash Desai and NCP’S Ajit Pawar, where the proposal was moved for a change in the rule,” an official of the parliamentary affairs department said on condition of anonymity.
The meeting was chaired by deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal – a move that was made possible after the state legislature approved his chairmanship the previous day.
“Using the powers in Article 180 of the Constitution, the state legislature changed the rule in order to appoint the deputy speaker as the executive chairman of the Rules Committee. The estimate committee had proposed the amendment and the decision of appointing deputy speaker as executive chairman of the committee was taken on July 5,” an official from the state legislature said.
No BJP member of the committee was present in the meeting. One of the committee members, Girish Mahajan, was among the 12 Opposition legislators who had been suspended for misbehaviour with the presiding officer inside the Assembly, the previous day.
The proposal will be put before Assembly during its next session – in December -- and members would be given 10 days (the time span can be amended by the government) to submit suggestions. The decision on the final proposal would be taken in the house with a voice vote.
The much-anticipated election was expected to take place during the two-day monsoon session. As per the power-sharing pact between the three allies, the post would be held by a Congress legislator. It has been vacant since Nana Patole resigned to take charge of the state Congress unit in February. Ruling party leaders said that Prithviraj Chavan, Sangram Thopte, Suresh Warpudkar and Amin Patel are among the probable candidates for the post.
Political experts contend that the move from secret ballot to a voice vote will help prevent cross voting by any of the ruling party MLAS.
In an open voting methodology
Alike head count or voice vote, legislators face disqualification if they vote against the whip issued by the party.
The election would have been a bellwether of the strength of the government as it would have indicated how many members of the legislative assembly (MLA) support of the ruling party – or, in this case, the MVA coalition.
“The election to the post of Speaker is held by secret voting, making it difficult to avert the cross voting. Rule 6 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly mandates secret ballot for the post of the Speaker. Though it won’t be a problem getting the Speaker elected with a majority, it will be important to maintain the number of votes polled during the confidence vote. A drop in number is a moral defeat and will give a reason to the Opposition to corner the government,” a senior Shiv Sena leader said on condition of anonymity.
The MVA government had won a floor test in 2019 by polling 169 votes in 288-member House. Besides the strength of 154 MLAS from three parties the ruling alliance, 15 MLAS from smaller parties and independents also supported the government. The BJP, which had 105 MLAS, was supported by nine MLAS from smaller allies and independents.
“The proposal will have to be formally read out in the Assembly. The condition of 10 days can be modified and brought down, like it’s done in case of discussions on budgetary demands. Once amended the election can be held by voice vote, by raising hands or head count on the floor of the house,” said another official of the parliamentary affairs department.
Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the process adopted by the MVA government was invalid. “The deputy speaker does not have the powers to hold the meeting of Rules Committee which is headed by the Speaker. If any such decision has been taken, it’s an invalid decision. Besides, the main question is why the ruling parties are worried about holding the election by secret ballot? This shows that everything within the alliance is not well. There is trust deficit among the ruling parties and no faith on their own MLAS,” he said.
Anant Kalse, former principal secretary, state legislature however, cited Article 180 as being clear on the validity of the deputy speaker as standing in for the Speaker.
“Even Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and legislative councils have adopted this process and there was nothing wrong if we go for it. We are not worried about the majority as the number of MLAS from three ruling parties itself is well above the half way mark,” Congress’s legislative party leader and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said.