Maharashtra Assembly Speaker: BJP MLA Rahul Narwekar took charge as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Sunday, making Maharashtra the only state in the country where the presiding officers of the Legislature are in-laws. As he took charge in the new role, chants of "Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji", "Jai Sri Ram", "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and "Vande Mataram" could be heard across the room. The special session began after the formation of new Eknath Shinde government in the state.
His father-in-law Ramraje Naik of NCP is the chairperson of the Legislative Council. Narwekar (45) is also the youngest ever Assembly Speaker in the country, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. Narwekar received a total of 164 votes in support and 107 against him.
During the session, Samajwadi Party (SP) abstained from voting against the BJP candidate. Both its MLAs Abu Azmi and Raees Shaikh kept sitting during the head count. Notably, AIMIM also abstained from voting against BJP's Narwekar.
A total of three MLAs abstained from voting in the Assembly including AIMIM's Shah Farukh Anwar, SP's two MLAs while one AIMIM MLA was absent from the House.
In the two-day special session of the Assembly beginning Sunday, the Shinde-Fadnavis government will have to prove its majority on the floor of the House on Monday in a Vote of Confidence.
Notably, Shinde, who led the revolt against Shiv Sena chief and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, was sworn in as the Chief Minister while former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who was seen as the front-runner for the top post in the government, was sworn in as Shinde's Deputy.
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