BJP's Rahul Narvekar elected Maharashtra Assembly Speaker; stage set for floor test

In a clear majority, first-time BJP legislator, Rahul Narvekar, was elected as the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker on Sunday.

Rahul Narvekar of BJP was on Sunday elected Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly. Narvekar, who polled 164 votes, defeated Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi who got 107 votes. 

The two-day special session of the 288-member House got underway Sunday at 11 am. The Eknath Shinde-led government will face floor test in the Assembly on Monday. 

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were among the other MLAs in the state Assembly who cast their votes.

Since Nana Patole of Congress resigned in February of last year, the position of Speaker has been empty. Narhari Zirwal, the deputy speaker, had been serving in that capacity.

Maharashtra also became the only state in the country where the presiding officers of the Legislature are in-laws. Rahul Narvekar's father-in-law Ramraje Naik of NCP is the chairperson of the Legislative Council. The 45-year-old is also the youngest ever Assembly Speaker in the country, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

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.

He had then claimed that inaccessibility of party top brass (Uddhav Thackeray) prompted him to quit the Sena.

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. 

(With inputs from PTI)