BJP's Narvekar elected Maha Assembly Speaker
Rahul Narvekar of the BJP was on Sunday elected Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly during the first day of its special session.
Mumbai: Rahul Narvekar of the BJP was on Sunday elected Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly during the first day of its special session.
Narvekar, who polled 164 votes, defeated Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi, who got 107 votes. The Speaker's post was lying vacant since February last year after Nana Patole of the Congress resigned.
Narvekar (45) is the youngest ever Assembly Speaker in the country, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. His father-in-law Ramraje Naik of NCP is the chairperson of the Legislative Council.
The two-day special session of the 288-member House got underway in the Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai at 11 am on Sunday. The Eknath Shinde-led government will face a floor test in the Assembly on Monday. The Assembly has one vacancy due to the death of Sena's Ramesh Latke.
NCP legislator Narhari Zirwal could not vote as he is the deputy speaker. After the vote count, Zirwal said, "Some Shiv Sena MLAs voted against the party whip. Its recording should be verified, and necessary action should be taken against them."
Out of the 287 legislators, 271 voted, while three MLAs - Rais Shaikh, Abu Azmi (both of the Samajwadi Party) and Shah Farukh (AIMIM) - abstained from voting. As many as 12 MLAs did not attend the Speaker's election in the House.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray targeted the Eknath Shinde-led government on the stringent security arrangements in place for rebel Shiv Sena MLAs as they entered the Vidhan Bhavan premises from a nearby luxury hotel.
