Months after the post of Speaker fell vacant following resignation by Nana Patole – who went on to become the State Congress chief – the Maharashtra Assembly will elect a new Speaker in the winter session starting on Wednesday.
The selection process is, however, unlikely to go smoothly as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is insistent on secret ballot while the ruling coalition want open vote.
The rules committee of the Assembly has already passed a resolution to change the existing rule of secret ballot for Speaker’s election. On Wednesday, it will be placed in front of the House for sanction, where the BJP is likely to oppose the move. Once cleared, the process for seeking nominations will begin and election could be held on December 23 or 24.
According to sources within the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government, the BJP MLAs had opposed move on open voting in the rules committee meeting.
“Chief Minister is insisting on open voting, which is a norm even in Parliament and also in the State Council,” said a member of the rules committee.
Govt. majority
In the 288-member Assembly, the ruling MVA enjoys support of around 170 MLAs as against 106 of the BJP.
Twelve BJP MLAs are suspended, bringing down the opposition tally. However, according to sources, even if the victory of the MVA is certain, the ruling coalition is not willing to take any chances and want to avoid cross-voting of even a single MLA in secret ballot.
Senior Congress MLAs Sangram Thopte, Amin Patel, Suresh Varpudkar are likely faces in the race for the post.
