Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde congratulates Speaker Rahul Narwekar on being elected unopposed

Deputy CM Eknath Shinde accompanied Rahul Narwekar when the Colaba MLA submitted his nomination papers for the Speaker`s election on Sunday. File pic

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Eknath Shinde congratulated Colaba legislator Rahul Narwekar on being elected the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly unopposed on Monday.

Shinde said, "Advocate Rahul Narwekar will be working to give equal justice to every section in the House as the Speaker of the Assembly. He has been elected to the post for the second time. This will be written in golden letters in the history of the legislature."

Narwekar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Mumbai, has served as the Speaker of the 14th Legislative Assembly for two-and-a-half years.

He was elected unopposed as the Speaker after the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) decided not to put up a contest.

While speaking during the motion of thanks in the Assembly in Mumbai, Shinde added, "The Speaker of the House has good knowledge of the law and his performance as the Assembly Speaker is commendable. In the past two-and-a-half years, he has taken many good decisions in the interest of the state and has increased the stature of the post of Speaker."

In his speech, the Deputy CM also stated that "a new era of development has begun in the state". "The country and the state are governed by the Constitution framed by Babasaheb Ambedkar. A common man can become the Prime Minister, CM and Deputy CM. A new era of development has begun in the state. The knowledge of law that the Speaker has will be used to solve the problems of the common people. Therefore, everyone should try to take the state on the path of development by keeping the sanctity of this House, Shinde said in the House.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (UBT) "boycotted" Narwekar's election as the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker because he had helped run an "unconstitutional government" during his previous tenure, party leader Aaditya Thackeray said, according to news agency PTI.

During his previous tenure, Narwekar had ruled that the party led by Eknath Shinde was the legitimate and real Shiv Sena after the undivided party split. He also held that the faction under Ajit Pawar was the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

(With PTI inputs)