Rahul Narvekar has been elected Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly.
Maharashtra: Rahul Narvekar of the BJP was on Sunday elected Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly. Narvekar, who polled 164 votes, defeated Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi, who got 107 votes.
Many firsts and surprises
- 45-year-old Narvekar is the youngest ever Assembly Speaker in the country, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said
- With Narvekar's election, Maharashtra became the only state in India where the presiding officers of the Legislature are in-laws.
- Narvekar's father-in-law Ramraje Naik of NCP is the chairperson of the Legislative Council.
- The legislator from Mumbai's Colaba Assembly constituency has been associated with the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party in the past.
- Narvekar, whose brother Makarand is a corporator from Colaba, was a spokesperson of the youth wing of Shiv Sena in early years. He quit that party and joined NCP in 2014.
- Narvekar contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Maval, losing to Shrirang Appa Barne of the Shiv Sena.
- He joined the BJP before the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls from Colaba. He won the Colaba Assembly seat, defeating Congress' Ashok Jagtap.
- AIMIM MLA Mufti Mohammad Ismail did not attend the session.
- Three legislators - Rais Shaikh, Abu Azmi (both of the Samajwadi Party) and Shah Farukh (AIMIM) - abstained from voting.
- Congress MLA Praniti Shinde remained absent during the House proceedings.
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Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray targeted the Eknath Shinde-led government on the stringent security arrangements in place for rebel Shiv Sena MLAs as they entered the Vidhan Bhavan premises from a nearby luxury hotel. Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, who support Shinde, returned to Mumbai from Goa on Saturday evening and were lodged in a luxury hotel in south Mumbai. Before the session commenced, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction sealed the legislative party office in the Vidhan Bhavan. Shinde was on Thursday sworn in as the 20th chief minister of Maharashtra, while BJP stalwart Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the deputy CM.
Also Read | Two held for staying under false names in Goa hotel where rebel Maharashtra MLAs were camping
