BJP's Haribhau Bagde elected Maharashtra assembly speaker unopposed

Both the Congress and the Shiv Sena withdraw their nominees after Chief Minister's request

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ appeal to the Congress and the Shiv Sena to withdraw their respective nominees for the post of Speaker paved the way for the unanimous election of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former minister Haribhau Bagde as the Speaker of the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Bagde is a five-time MLA from Aurangabad district.

The election for the speaker's post was held at around 11 am. Both the Shiv Sena and the Congress had fielded Vijay Auti and Varsha Gaikwad respectively before taking back their nominations.

Fadnavis had last night talked to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray requesting him to withdraw Auti’s nomination considering the prevailing practice. Besides, some Sena leaders including former leader of Opposition Ramdas Kadam also held talks with Fadnavis. Thereafter Shiv Sena decided to withdraw Auti’s nomination.

Fadnavis had met Congress group leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil too making similar appeal. Congress also responded positively and withdrew its nominee Varsha Gaikwad 10 am.

All the major parties had last night issued a one-line whip asking their legislators to be present during the speaker’s election.

Since last night Shiv Sena was expecting positive signals from its former ally BJP about joining the government. However, Shiv Sena did not get any assurance in this regard. Uddhav had asked his legislators to oppose the trust vote motion to be moved after speaker’s election.

Devendra Fadnavis government needs 144 MLAs to prove its majority on the floor of the House and claims support of 138 MLAs including independents and smaller parties. The NCP has already offered an unconditional outside support to the BJP.