Election for deputy speaker on March 26

Narwekar said nominations for the post must be filed by 12 pm on Tuesday, and scrutiny will be conducted the same day. Candidates can withdraw their nominations latest by 11 am on Wednesday, the day of polling

MUMBAI: The election to the post of deputy speaker in the Maharashtra assembly will be held on March 26, speaker Rahul Narwekar announced on Monday. The post has been vacant since the Mahayuti alliance government returned to power late last year.

Election for deputy speaker on March 26

Narwekar said nominations for the post must be filed by 12 pm on Tuesday, and scrutiny will be conducted the same day. Candidates can withdraw their nominations latest by 11 am on Wednesday, the day of polling.

In the assembly elections last year, the ruling alliance won an unprecedented majority – 235 seats in the 288-member house. The deputy speaker’s post is likely to go to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar. The NCP is considering two names — Rajkumar Badole and Anna Bansode.

Even though the opposition has no chance of winning the deputy speaker’s position, the Congress has called a meeting of its MLAs to discuss the possibility as it has the second-highest number of MLAs in the assembly — 16 — after its alliance partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Shiv Sena (UBT) — 20.

The issue of leader of the opposition (LoP) was also raised in the assembly, with former LoP Vijay Wadettiwar requesting the speaker to make the appointment. The Shiv Sena (UBT), which has the highest number of MLAs in the opposition, has claimed the post and has nominated Bhaskar Jadhav for the position.