Rebel MLAs return to Mumbai as Shinde govt braces for crucial assembly session| Top points

The two-day special session of Maharashtra Assembly begins on Sunday. The first day will witness the election of speaker, while the Eknath Shinde government will face floor test on Monday.

The crucial two-day Maharashtra Assembly session begins on Sunday, days after the Eknath Shinde government came into power. The two-day session will witness the election of assembly speaker which will be held on Sunday. On Monday, the Shinde government will face trust vote on the floor of the assembly. The post of Assembly Speaker has been lying vacant since Nana Patole of Congress resigned in February 2021 to become his party's state unit president.

The two-day long session is expected to witness fireworks as the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance comprising Shiv Sena, Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party is now in the opposition.



Here are the top five developments unfolding in Maharashtra ahead of crucial assembly session.

1. The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs returned to Mumbai from Goa for the special assembly session. As many as 50 MLAs including 39 from Shiv Sena who support Shinde arrived in the city via a chartered flight. The chief minister had flown to Goa early in the morning, and later accompanied them on their return to Mumbai. The rebel MLAs have now been taken to a hotel in South Mumbai amid tight security.

2. As the suspense of portfolio allocation continues, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the decision on forming the new cabinet will be taken after the assembly session, PTI reported. “The decision to allocate portfolios will be taken once the two-day session is over. BJP leaders have been holding meetings with a focus on the two-day session. Once this session is over, the state leadership of both the parties (the BJP and the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena) can decide about the allocation of portfolios," he said. Shinde took oath as the chief minister on Thursday with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

3. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar took a jibe at Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, after the pictures of latter offering tweets to chief minister Eknath Shinde went viral. “I saw the swearing-in ceremony of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis on television. He (the governor) fed them 'pedha' (sweet) and greeted them with a bouquet. It seems there are some qualitative changes in him,” news agency PTI quoted the NCP chief.

4. The Eknath Shinde camp has said that Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's letter removing the chief minister from the post of Shiv Sena leader would be challenged, PTI reported. "This letter (of removing Shinde from the post) is an insult of the people of Maharashtra," rebel MLAs group spokesperson Deeepak Kesarkar was quoted as saying by PTI.

5. The election to the post of Maharashtra assembly speaker will witness a direct contest between the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the BJP-Shinde camp government. The Shiv Sena has nominated MLA Ranjan Salvi against BJP MLA Rahul Narvekar.

The rebel MLAs return to Mumbai from Goa ahead of the two-day special session of the Maharashtra assembly.  (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)