Maharashtra: MVA leaders urge Governor to approve schedule for Assembly Speaker’s election on March 9

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Leaders of Maharashtra’s ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Friday called on state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari here and urged him to approve the schedule for Legislative Assembly Speaker’s election on March 9.

The budget session of the state legislature commenced from March 3 and will continue till March 25. A delegation of MVA leaders, comprising Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, PWD minister Ashok Chavan, Industries Minister Subhash Desai, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Transport Minister Anil Parab, Minister of State for Home Satej Patil, state Congress chief Nana Patole and state NCP president and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, met the governor at the Raj Bhavan here.

Talking to reporters later, Bhujbal said the delegation informed the governor about the schedule for the speaker’s election on March 9.

“We appealed to the governor to approve the schedule,” he said, adding that the government expects a positive response from the Raj Bhavan.

Referring to the exchange of letters between the government and the Raj Bhavan in December last year over the issue, Bhujbal said the reference to those letters was made by the governor, but the delegation urged Koshyari to leave the past behind and allow election for the assembly speaker’s post, which has been lying vacant for a year. He talked about the language (used) in the letters. We told him it has been a year, it’s alright, let bygones be bygones and requested him to appoint the 12 MLCs soon and let there be election for the Speaker’s post, senior NCP leader Bhujbal said.

Patole alleged that the BJP doesn’t want the speaker’s election to take place. Shinde told reporters that the delegation also urged the governor to approve the list of 12 members sent to him for their nomination to the Legislative Council from his quota, which has been pending for more than a year.

We have requested the Governor to approve the names of 12 MLCs to be appointed from his quota. It is pending for some time. There is importance to a majority government and its decision. The governor should also give justice to the MLCs so that they can in turn give justice to the people’s issues in the Council, the Shiv Sena leader said.

In the previous legislature session, the government had amended the existing rules to facilitate the speaker’s election through a voice vote. The governor had described the decision as unconstitutional and sought legal opinion. At that time, the government had asked the governor to approve the schedule for the speaker’s election, and warned that it would go ahead with the election if he failed to do so. However, the government did a rethink and decided against the move.

In their representation to the governor on Friday, the MVA leaders said that he had in a letter on June 24 last year instructed to fill the Speaker’s post immediately . The MVA leaders, in the representation, said that they had subsequently requested the governor to fix the date to hold election for the post during the state legislature’s winter session held in December last year.

But no date has been finalised from your end till now. The budget session of the state legislature is underway at present. The chief minister’s office on February 21, 2022 sent a proposal to you on fixing the date to hold the election for the post of Assembly Speaker. Hence, a humble request to you to approve the proposal concerned, the representation stated.

The speaker’s post has been lying vacant since February last year after Nana Patole resigned to take charge as the Congress state unit president.