MVA leaders meet Maharashtra CM Fadnavis, seek deputy speaker's post; Patole cites tradition

Earlier in the day, BJP legislator Rahul Narwekar filed his nomination for the Speaker`s election on Sunday. Pic/PTI

Leaders from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday, requesting that one of the constituent parties in the alliance be given the deputy speaker's post in the state assembly.

The delegation, led by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Bhaskar Jadhav, made it clear that while the opposition would not contest the election for the speaker's post - thereby letting Rahul Narwekar get elected unopposed - they insisted that the ruling government adhere to protocol and allocate the deputy speaker's position to the opposition, news agency PTI reported.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, speaking at the Vidhan Bhavan complex, reiterated that according to the legislative tradition of Maharashtra, the deputy speaker's position must be given to the opposition. "Maharashtra's legislative tradition suggests that the speaker should be elected unopposed, and the deputy speaker's post must be given to the opposition. In the Delhi Assembly, despite the BJP having only three MLAs, the Aam Aadmi Party granted it the Leader of the Opposition post," he pointed out.

"An MVA delegation met CM Fadnavis to discuss granting the Leader of Opposition post to the opposition. We hope that the Mahayuti government will consider this proposal positively," Patole said, according to PTI.

MVA comprises Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). However, none of these parties secured 10 percent of the seats in the November 20 Maharashtra polls to claim the Leader of Opposition (LoP) post. In the results, the Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats, Congress 16, and NCP (SP) 10 seats.

Following the meeting, MVA leaders gathered to discuss their strategy for the legislative floor, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, Narwekar, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Colaba, filed his nomination for the Speaker's post in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Sunday. Speaking to ANI after submitting his nomination, Narvekar said, "I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP's national president JP Nadda, and our CM Devendra Fadnavis for showing faith in me again and giving me this chance."

Narwekar filed his nomination in the presence of Fadnavis, his deputies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, BJP state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, party leader Chandrakant Patil, and others.

The election for the Speaker's post is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Notably, Narwekar has previously served as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during the last term of the Mahayuti government. On Saturday, he took oath as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Colaba Constituency.

Senior BJP MLA Kalidas Sulochana Kolambkar has been serving as the pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly.

(With ANI and PTI inputs)