Senior-most MLA should be made pro-tem speaker, says Cong ahead of Maha floor test

The Congress on Tuesday called for the appointment of the senior-most lawmaker in Maharashtra Assembly as pro-tem speaker, saying precedents and conventions should be followed.

The party's assertion comes ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly floor test on Wednesday after the Supreme Court gave directions for holding it on Wednesday.

"It has happened in nine cases. If you remember in Karnataka, first K G Bopaiah ji was made speaker, but then he was changed as he was not senior-most. So automatically, it is a tradition that the senior-most (legislator) is made pro-tem speaker. We go by conventions and traditions," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.