Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, July 3: The Maharashtra Assembly will choose a new speaker today ahead of the test of strength on Monday.
Rajan Salvi, a Shiv Sena legislator, and Rahul Narvekar, a member of the BJP, will square off for the position of speaker in today’s poll. Whips have been issued by the two Shiv Sena factions, one led by Eknath Shinde and the other by Uddhav Thackeray, requesting that the MLAs support their respective nominees for Speaker.
Since Nana Patole of Congress resigned in February 2021 to become his party’s state unit president, the position of Assembly Speaker has been vacant. Acting Speaker since the absence of the Speaker was Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal.
Given the recent turn of events in the state, the election for Assembly Speaker is quite important. According to legal experts, the Speaker may decide to drop the disqualification charges against 16 rebel MLAs, including newly-installed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal gave them the disqualification notifications last month.
