BJP's Rahul Narwekar elected Maharashtra assembly Speaker unopposed

Last year, Narwekar had ruled that the party led by Eknath Shinde was the legitimate and “real Shiv Sena” after a split in the Bal Thackeray-founded party.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rahul Narwekar was on Monday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the 15th Maharashtra legislative assembly, a day after filing his nomination papers.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rahul Narwekar filing his nomination for Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in presence of state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Dy CMs Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, BJP state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, in Mumbai on Sunday. (Dev_Fadnavis/X)

The opposition alliance - Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) - decided not to put up a contest.

Rahul Narwekar, who was the Speaker in the 14th assembly for two-and-half years, was re-elected from the Colaba assembly seat in Mumbai in the recently concluded state assembly elections.

A floor test will take place soon now to prove the new government’s strength, followed by Governor CP Radhakrishnan's address to the joint session of both Houses of the state legislature.

Narwekar's rulings

Last year Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar had ruled that the party led by Eknath Shinde was the legitimate and “real Shiv Sena” after a split in the Bal Thackeray-founded party. As Speaker, Narwekar also last year held that the faction under Ajit Pawar was the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which was founded by Sharad Pawar.

In the recent Maharashtra assembly elections, the Mahayuti coalition of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP got a landslide victory by 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 one; PWP one; AIMIM one; Samajwadi Party two.

On December 5, Devendra Fadnavis of BJP took oath as chief minister of Maharashtra and Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as his deputies. The swearing-in ceremony took place after intense negotiations over who gets what in the new Maharashtra government.