Maha Politics: BJP Takes First Honour, MLA Narwekar Becomes Speaker

| Updated: 03 July, 2022 1:02 pm IST

MUMBAI/ NEW DELHI: It was perhaps the sign of things to come as the two-day special Maharashtra assembly session began with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) first-time MLA Rahul Narwekar becoming the speaker.

Narwekar’s 164 votes, in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly house, assume significance as rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde’s government will go for the floor test on Monday.

Shinde toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government after an 11-day rebellion. He took charge of the new government on Thursday with former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP as his deputy.

Being a first-time legislator, Narwekar, the MLA from Colaba, was a surprising choice for the post. But Narwekar sails through against the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress joint candidate Rajan Selvi. A Thackeray loyalist, Salvi managed to get 106 votes.

Rahul Narwekar – the MLA from Colaba – was seen as a surprise choice by many for the post, being a first-time legislator.

To contest against him, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine had fielded Sena’s Rajan Salvi, a Thackeray loyalist. Salvi managed to get 106 votes. Earlier, under a power-sharing arrangement sealed in 2019, a Congress leader had to be picked for the post. However, with Uddhav Thackeray witnessing the biggest rebellion in Shiv Sena in recent times, his allies backed a Sena leader for the post.

While Shinde’s floor test is next on the agenda. But that looked like a formality with the smooth sailing of Narwekar.

Shinde commands the support of 50 MLAs, including 38 Shiv Sena rebels, while BJP has a strength of 106 MLAs in the assembly.