Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rahul Narwekar was on Monday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the 15th Maharashtra legislative assembly.
Narwekar filed his nomination papers on Sunday and was elected unopposed as the opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) decided not to put up a contest.
He was re-elected from the Colaba assembly seat in Mumbai in the November 20 Assembly elections.
The BJP leader is the second member of the lower House to be re-elected to the post since the state’s formation in 1960.
“Balasaheb Bharde was the only Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to be re-elected to the post twice since 1960 when Maharashtra was formed. After Bharde, Narwekar is the second member of the assembly to receive the honour,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in his congratulatory speech.
He also said that Kundanmal Firodia was the first Speaker of the House to be reappointed, but it was during the time of Bombay state, and Sayaji L Silam was elected as the Speaker before the formation of Maharashtra, and he was re-elected after the state came into existence.
Narwekar, during his tenure as Speaker of the 14th Maharashtra Assembly for two and a half years, he had ruled that the party led by Eknath Shinde was the legitimate and real Shiv Sena after a split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.
In the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Mahayuti coalition put up a stunning show, winning over 230 of the 288 seats, while the MVA could collectively manage only 46 seats.
The party positions in the 15th assembly are:
Mahayuti – BJP 132 MLAs; Shiv Sena 57; NCP 41; Jan Surabaya Shakti Party 2; Rashtriya Yuva Swabhiman Party 1; Rashtriya Samaj Paksh 1; Independents 2; Rajarshi Shahu Vikas Aghadi 1.
Opposition – Shiv Sena (UBT) 20 MLAs; Congress 16; NCP (SP) 10; CPM 1; PWP 1; AIMIM 1; Samajwadi Party 2.
