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Maharashtra floor test on Monday, BJP to get speaker post
A two-day special session of the Maharashtra Assembly has been convened on July 3 to elect the new speaker, and for chief minister Eknath Shinde to prove his government’s majority on the floor of the house.
The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Maharashtra will face the floor test on July 4, an official said on Friday, and the process to elect a new speaker was kicked off after BJP MLA Rahul Narvekar filed nomination for the post.
A two-day special session of the Maharashtra Assembly has been convened on July 3 to elect the new speaker, and for chief minister Eknath Shinde to prove his government’s majority on the floor of the house.
Ahead of the session, the BJP fielded its Colaba MLA while the opposition has not announced any candidate so far.
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The speaker’s post is vacant and the Shinde faction has expressed no confidence in deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal, who is from the NCP. The matter is now in the Supreme Court.
Getting their Speaker is crucial for the BJP-Shinde alliance ahead of the trust vote to ensure that the Shinde faction is recognised as the real Shiv Sena in the House, else the whip of the Thackeray faction could disqualify the breakaway MLAs.
On Friday, a vacation bench of justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala refused to grant interim relief to the Uddhav Thackeray camp, which had petitioned the Supreme Court to stop Shinde from functioning as CM as the matter of the deputy speaker was still before the court.
The biggest problem before the Shinde faction is that deputy speaker Zirwal has already recognised Sunil Prabhu as the chief whip of the Shiv Sena. Since the Supreme Court has directed all parties maintain a status quo, the rebels too will have to follow the whip issued by Sunil Prabhu for Speaker’s election.
Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray removes Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde as Shiv Sena leader
To bypass this the BJP-Shinde alliance has decided to adopt voice voting for the election of speaker, which will make it difficult to ascertain who violated the whip, said BJP insiders. The voice vote has been allowed by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
“Speaker’s election will be held through voice vote. Once the new speaker is elected, the House will decide when the floor test will be conducted (July 3 or 4),” said principal secretary, state legislature, Rajendra Bhagwat. The deadline for filing nominations for speaker’s post is until 12pm on Saturday, July 2.
Congress leader Balsaheb Thorat questioned the Governor’s decision to go ahead with the speaker’s election, saying that when the MVA government wanted to hold the speaker’s election after the post fell vacant on account of the resignation of Nana Patole, who took over state Congress chief, he refused to act saying the case was sub-judice. “I want to know on what basis has he allowed the speaker’s election now,” said Thorat.
The floor test is likely to be held on Monday and will decide the fate of the Shinde-Fadnavis government, and also what happens to the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in the Assembly.
Chief minister Shinde, who held a meeting with rebel MLAs in Goa, told reporters that his government has the support of 170 MLAs. “The Governor has called a special session and we will succeed on the floor of the House,” he said.
