BJP’S Narwekar elected Maha assembly Speaker
MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rahul Narwekar was on Sunday elected as Speaker of the Maharashtra assembly, placing the new ruling alliance in a strong position to clear the floor test in the house on Monday.
Narwekar, a first-time lawmaker from Colaba in south Mumbai, was elected after securing 164 votes in favour and 107 against, which showed that the newly formed alliance led by chief minister Eknath Shinde, leader of the breakaway faction of the Shiv Sena, has a clear majority in the 288-member assembly. Shinde formed a new government in the state in alliance with the BJP after creating a vertical split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the subsequent collapse of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Barring deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), 16 members abstained from voting.
Of them, seven were from the NCP, including two MLAS, Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, who are currently in jail, and two Congress MLAS, Praniti Shinde and Jitesh Antapurkar, Mohammad Ismail Abdul Khaliq of the All India Majlis-e-ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Three MLAS abstained from voting, Abu Asim Azmi and Rais Shaikh of Samajwadi Party and Farooq Anwar Shah of AIMIM.
Of the 164 votes, Narwekar got 104 votes from the BJP as the party’s two members, Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap, could not come for voting owing to ill health, 39 votes from the Shindeled rebel faction, 13 votes from independents, three votes from Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, two votes from Prahar Janshakti Paksha and one vote each from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Jansurajya Shakti Paksha.
Opposition candidate Rajan Salvi got 47 votes from NCP, 42 votes from Congress, 15 votes from Shiv Sena and one vote each from CPI (M), PWP and Swambhimani Paksha.