@prashanthamine
Mumbai: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may pat its back for its deft poll math in preferential voting for just concluded Rajya Sabha and Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections. It may also pride itself for its ‘masterstroke’ in wresting power from its opponents in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. But when it comes to having its own men occupying key constitutional posts like the Presiding Officers in the State Legislature, the BJP for some strange reasons is unable to do so.
In the last 85-year history of Maharashtra State Legislature, the BJP has twice managed to get the Speakers post, that too only in the last eight years and the Deputy Speakers post only once in the last 53 years in the Legislative Assembly. In the Legislative Council too it has managed to get the Chairman’s post once in the last 61 years and Deputy Chairman’s post twice after 57 years since 1937.
Despite being the single largest party in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, the Chairman is from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Deputy Chairman is from Shiv Sena. Both the Presiding Officers are not from the BJP. In the Legislative Assembly, the Deputy Speaker Narhari Zhirwal belongs to the NCP.
The BJP which is smarting over its own latest masterstroke and prides itself at being past masters in handling preferential voting in Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council, has been unable to wrest control of the key posts of Presiding Officer’s in both the houses of the State Legislature.
The Maharashtra State Legislature has had a rich pre-Independence era history and legacy. Both the houses of the state legislature – Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council came into existence in 1937.
The rich legacy of the Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly has been such that its first ever Assembly Speaker was none other than the illustrious Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar who became the Speaker of the Bombay Legislative Assembly on July 21, 1937. His term lasted till January 20, 1946. His reputation as the finest Presiding Officers, was such that he was appointed as the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha after India’s independence.
Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar (27 November 1888 – 27 February 1956) was popularly known as Dadasaheb Mavalankar was a freedom fighter. He was the President of the Central Legislative Assembly. Mavalankar was the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly of India (from August 20, 1946 to November 17, 1947), and later was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha on November 26, 1949.
But for the BJP it took 77 years, for it to have its own man, Haribhau Bagde as the Speaker of Legislative Assembly. Haribhau Bagde’s term in office was between November 12, 2014 to November 25, 2019.
Since the formation of the state of Maharashtra on May 1, 1960, out of the 20 Presiding Officers in the lower house the BJP has had just two of its men as the Speaker.
Three years later on July 3, Rahul Narvekar became BJP’s only second Legislative Assembly Speaker in the last eight years. He is the 20th Presiding Officer of the Legislative Assembly.
Politicians cutting across party lines in Maharashtra may be marvelling at the unique coincidence of Narvekar’s father-in-law, Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar (from the NCP) is the Legislative Council Chairman. Family relations aside, both hail from two different political parties.
Same is the case with the post of Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for the BJP. Laxman Sonopant alias Anna Joshi became the first and only Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on December 20, 1990. His term lasted till July 3, 1991.
Currently, Narhari Zhirwal from the NCP has been holding the post since March 14, 2020. He is the 24th Presiding Officer, that is the Deputy Speaker of the lower house.
The BJP and for Anna Joshi, they got to the Deputy Speakers post a good 53 years after 1937. Narayanrao Gururao Joshi held the Deputy Speakers post between 1937 to 1939.
The BJP shared power with the Shiv Sena, becoming its junior partner in power between 1995 to 1999. Here too there was a strange situation in the state legislature, the Speaker Dattaji Nalawade was from the Shiv Sena (March 24, 1995 – October 19, 1999).
The Deputy Speaker, Sharad Tasre was from the Congress whose term in office was between March 28, 1995 to July 15, 1999.
In those days there was this honourable agreement between the ruling and the opposition benches, that if the Speaker was from the treasury benches, the Deputy Speakers post was offered to the opposition. That practice was subsequently abandoned by the Congress-NCP led Democratic Front government that came to power in Maharashtra in 1999.
For the second time the BJP came to power in Maharashtra in 2014. During its reign of 2014-2019, the roles were reversed and the Shiv Sena became its junior partner. Haribhau Bagde became BJPs first Speaker in November 2014.
However, the bitter acrimonious entry of the Sena into the alliance government later was echoed in the portals of the Vidhan Bhavan. The post of the Deputy Speaker was left vacant for a good four years. It was only on November 30, 2018, that Vijay Auti of the Sena became the Deputy Speaker. His term lasted only for about a year till November 9, 2019.
The latest party-wise strength of the Legislative Assembly is as follows: Shiv Sena 56 (minus 1 = 55), NCP 53, Congress 44, BJP 106, BVA 3, Samajwadi Party 2, MIM 2, PJP 2, MNS 1, CPI-M – 1, PWP-I 1, Swabhimani Paksha 1, RSP 1, JSP 1, KSP 1, Independents 13, Vacant 1 (1 Shiv Sena). Total 288.
In the Legislative Council, the situation as far as the Presiding Officers is concerned has been even more bizarre.
During its first stint in power in 1995-99, the BJP managed to have its own man Prof N S Pharande as Legislative Council Chairman on July 24, 1998, almost at the fag-end of the Sena-BJP Shivashahi government. Pharande spent the rest of his term in office till July 7, 2004, most of that six-year term in office coincided with the Congress-NCP regime in Maharashtra.
It was only in the case of the post of Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council, that the BJP had some relative success.
First it was Suryabhan Vahadane-Patil of the BJP who became the Deputy Chairman in 1988 at a time when the BJP was yet to taste true electoral success which it did subsequently in the 1995 Assembly elections
Prof N S Pharande’s term as its Deputy Chairman was between July 30, 1994 to July 23, 1998. His four-year tenure almost coincided with the Sena-BJP regime of 1995-99. After his stint as the Deputy Chairman, Prof N S Pharande later on in 1998 became the Chairman of the upper house.
Since Pharande demitted the office in 2004, in the last 18 years the BJP has had none of its members as the Presiding Officer in the upper house of the state legislature.
As stated earlier the practice of offering the Deputy Presiding Officers post by the ruling dispensation to the opposition was abandoned somewhere around 1998-1999.
Mangaldas M Pakvasa became the first Chairman of the Legislative Council on July 22, 1937. His term in office ended on August 16, 1947, soon after India gained independence.
After Pharande left office in 2004, Vasant Davkhare of the NCP temporarily held the charge as Chairman in 2004. Since then, Shivajirao Deshmukh of the Congress held the post for 11 years between August 13, 2004 to March 16, 2015, before he was removed from the post through a motion of No Confidence.
Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar of the NCP assumed charge as the Chairman on March 20, 2015 and his first term in office ended on July 7, 2016. He got a second term in office as Chairman on July 8, 2016. He has been the Legislative Council Chairman for the last seven years since 2015. He is currently the 13th Chairman of the Legislative Council.
Ramchandra Ganesh Soman was the first Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council. His term in office lasted from July 27, 1937 to October 16, 1947.
Despite the vast experience in dealing with Rajya Sabha and MLC elections, it took almost 51 years for the BJP to get its first Deputy Chairman in the upper house in the form of Suryabhan Vahadane-Patil on July 29, 1988. Vahadane-Patil was the Deputy Chairman for six years till July 27, 1994.
He was later succeeded by Prof N S Pharande. He served a four-year term as the Deputy Chairman between July 30, 1994 to July 23, 1998.
At present, Dr Neelam Gorhe of the Shiv Sena is the 13th Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council. Her first term as the Presiding Officer was from June 24, 2019 to April 24, 2020. Her current second term as the Deputy Chairman began from September 8, 2020. She has held the post for the last 3 years.
The latest party-wise strength in the Legislative Council is as follows: NCP 10, Congress 9. Shiv Sena 13, BJP 24, Lokbharti 1, PWP-I 1, RSP 1, Independent 4, Vacancies – 15 (includes 12 Governor Nominated).
A Presiding Officer of the State Legislature has immense powers when it comes to conducting the legislative business of the house and above all deciding upon crucial matters like trust vote of the ruling party or disqualification of legislators. In matters of disqualification of legislators and trust vote, the Presiding Officer assumes a quasi-judicial role. In protocol terms in the Executive arm of government apparatus, the Presiding Officer of a state legislature is on par with the Chief Justice of the High Court of that state.
Looking at the latest party-wise numerical strength in the Legislative Council, as of January 6, it still is baffling as to why the BJP is unable to have its own men as the Presiding Officers in the upper house as well. In the Legislative Assembly the Presiding Officers post has always depended on the number of seats won by the political party in the Assembly elections.
