Maharashtra Assembly To Get New Speaker On Saturday

Meanwhile, Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked the Supreme Court to restrict Shiv Sena MLAs – “pawns of the BJP” who rebelled against him – from participating in assembly proceedings.

Mumbai:  Eknath Shinde took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, capping nine days of his rebellion against his predecessor and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis were sworn in as his Deputy. Now, a special session of the assembly has been called this weekend during which a new Speaker will be elected from among the MLAs.

The post of Maharastra’s assembly speaker is vacant since February 2021, since congress leader Nana Patole resigned from the post. Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal of the Nationalist Congress Party has been handling the responsibilities in the absence of a speaker.

Hours after Eknath Shinde took over as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr.Shinde has moved to reverse the Uddhav Thackeray government’s stand on the controversial Metro car shed project in Mumbai, according to sources. Mr. Shinde, it is learned, has directed Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to submit in court that the Metro car shed will be built at Aarey Colony as planned in 2019 under the Devendra Fadnavis government.

As per reports, the new government is expected to face a floor test on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked the Supreme Court to restrict Shiv Sena MLAs – “pawns of the BJP” who rebelled against him – from participating in assembly proceedings.

“The delinquent MLAs who have been acting as pawns of the BJP, thereby committing the constitutional sin of defection, ought not to be allowed to perpetuate their sin even for a single day by permitting them to continue as members of the assembly,” Team Thackeray said in a petition to the Supreme Court today.

Just after the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde started their revolt on Monday last, Team Thackeray had asked the Deputy Speaker to disqualify 16 MLAs, including Mr. Shinde, who is now the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis backing up as his deputy.

The rebel MLAs then went to the Supreme Court claiming any move to disqualify them would be illegal. The court had set Monday for a hearing on the disqualification matter.

“Suspend the 16 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification proceedings are pending as an interim measure. Restrain them from participating in any of the house proceedings,”  Kapil Sibal who is representing team Thackeray in the apex court, told the Supreme Court, after which the court said it will hear the matter on Monday.

The post appeared first on HW News English.