Assembly session to begin today

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan will prove his government’s majority in the state Assembly in its first session that begins here on Monday, reports HT Correspondent.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan will prove his government’s majority in the state Assembly in its first session that begins here on Monday.

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The three-day session of the Assembly will begin with the 288 newly elected members taking oath. For the purpose, seniormost legislator Ganpatrao Deshmukh will be selected as Protem Speaker to preside over the House. Deshmukh has been elected to the state Assembly for the eighth time.

According to official information, the election for the post of the Speaker will take place on November 11, which will be the first test of the Chavan government’s strength on the floor of the Assembly.

If the Speaker is elected with majority votes, the Governor may not ask the government to prove majority since there is no counter-claim by the Opposition parties. The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government has claimed the support of 170 legislators.

The Speaker’s post will remain with the NCP. The party is yet to decide its candidate for the Speaker’s post.

NCP sources said the party is considering the names of former finance minister Dilip Walse-Patil and former opposition leader Madhukar Pichad for the post.

Another NCP legislator, Babasaheb Kupekar, who was the Speaker in the previous Assembly, is also interested for a second term but the party has not yet responded to his request, sources said.