Maharashtra speaker poll: MVA ministers plan strategy; BJP quiet on plan

While the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition prepares for the election of Assembly speaker which is likely to be held on July 6, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may take the opportunity to destabilise or weaken the coalition government

While the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition prepares for the election of Assembly speaker which is likely to be held on July 6, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may take the opportunity to destabilise or weaken the coalition government. MVA leaders are confident about winning the election easily, but it would be a herculean task for the coalition to maintain the support they had garnered while forming the government.

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The ruling parties have chalked out a strategy to ensure they get the votes they registered during the confidence motion. The Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress have arrived at the consensus to hold the election for the post of speaker on July 6, the second day of the two-day monsoon session. Senior ministers from three parties held meetings over the past two days to decide on the strategy for the poll. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray also discussed the issue in a meeting on Tuesday.

Since the poll to the post is likely to be held by secret ballot, the ruling parties and opposition are busy garnering support of independents and smaller allies.

During the confidence motion in November 2019, MVA had polled 169 votes in the 288-member lower house. The three ruling parties had garnered the support of 16 independents and MLAs from smaller parties in addition to their own MLAs — 56 from Sena, 54 from NCP (including the protem speaker) and 44 from Congress. The BJP’s collective strength stood at 114, of which 105 were from the party.

Currently, tally of BJP MLAs has reached 106 after they won Pandharpur bypolls, while Congress’s tally reduced to 43 after its MLA from Degalapur, Raosaheb Antapurkar, died recently.

A Congress minister said the ruling parties have started chalking out strategy for the election. “Of the six independent MLAs who had supported the BJP in 2019, few may change sides to support the government. Geeta Jain from Mira -Bhayander has already joined the Sena after initially supporting the BJP. Few other independent MLAs and smaller parties may come to us. Generally, independent MLAs are inclined towards ruling parties for various reasons, including allocation of funds to their constituencies,” he said.

“According to state legislature rules, the election for the post is held by secret ballot. Even the Supreme Court verdict mandate for secret ballot, but it is the up to the presiding officer to decide the form of election,” said an official from state legislature.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the speaker’s post is with the Congress as per the sharing of portfolios and Constitutional posts between the three ruling parties. “The Congress will have to decide on the candidate for the post, to which all ruling parties will take a decision with consensus,” he said.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition and former CM Devendra Fadnavis said, “Let MVA make their decision on the election. We will disclose our strategy after the election is announced.”

BJP vice-president Madhav Bhandari said his party was not worried about cross-voting and hence demanded the election. “It was our demand that the Governor ask the state government to hold the elections. Had we had any apprehension on cross-voting, we would not have demanded it. On the other hand, the state government has been dilly-dallying on the elections because of fear of losing votes,” he said.

According to BJP leaders, the party would not press for the election if it realised that it could not get desired numbers. “Also, we have a tradition of unopposed election to the Constitutional post and we may withdraw the candidate,” he said.

Minority affairs minister and NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “We are sure about winning the election with more votes than we received last time. The only question will be about the attendance of members, as many of the ruling members have contracted Covid-19.”

NCP and Sena were initially not very keen on the election after the Congress appointed the then Assembly speaker Nana Patole as its state unit chief. The two ruling parties claimed they were not taken into confidence by the Congress while removing the speaker as the election to the post could lead to embarrassment to the ruling parties.

Political analyst Hemant Desai said though there are major differences within the MVA parties, retaining the number of MLAs would not be a problem. “It would be difficult even for the BJP to keep its number intact, especially when it is in the opposition. The BJP will review its support base before going for the election as it would be embarrassing if its number dwindled.”