Mumbai: After a stalemate of 10 months, the Maharashtra assembly is most likely to get a Speaker this week.
ThePrint has learnt from a highly placed source within the Congress, one of the three constituent parties of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, that Sangram Thopte, the party MLA from Bhor (Pune) constituency, is the frontrunner for the post.
However, a section of the Congress is also pushing for senior leader and former CM Prithviraj Chavan. Chavan had also been asked to become Speaker by the party in 2019, but he had declined the offer at the time. The chair eventually went to Nana Patole, who quit in February this year after being named the Maharashtra Congress chief.
The election of the Speaker is likely to take place within three days, the source within the government told ThePrint.
Government sources also said the MVA, led by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, wants the Speaker election to happen through a voice vote instead of secret ballot, to avoid any embarrassment should any MLAs switch sides, despite the fact that it is comfortably placed. The government currently enjoys the support of 170 MLAs including independents and smaller parties in the 288-member house.
After Patole’s sudden resignation, CM Thackeray as well as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar were not happy with the Congress. However, Pawar later clarified that the Speaker will be from the Congress itself.
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Politics around the Speaker’s election
Since Patole’s resignation, the Maharashtra assembly has been without a Speaker for almost a whole year. Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal of the NCP has been at the helm of proceedings in the assembly.
While the Congress was keen on holding the election earlier, the NCP and Shiv Sena, its partners, were not very keen.
This was because the NCP was already enjoying the constitutional post in the absence of the Speaker while the Sena wanted someone senior to replace Patole, and there was no consensus on a name, multiple sources within the government told ThePrint.
BJP to pitch a candidate too
The election is not likely to go unopposed. The Opposition BJP is all set to pit its own candidate against the Congress’ pick, leader of the opposition in the assembly and former Devendra Fadnavis told reporters Tuesday.
The BJP however has not yet divulged who this candidate will be.
During the monsoon session of the assembly, 12 BJP MLAs were suspended from the assembly for a year for “abusing” and “misbehaving” with the presiding officer in chair, both inside and outside the assembly.
“By keeping our MLAs suspended, the government has shown how insecure it is. Also, a voice vote instead of a secret ballot exposes the government’s trust on its own MLAs. Despite boasting support of 170 MLAs, it lacks confidence,” Fadnavis said.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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