Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 8: BJP MLA Rahul Narwekar on Sunday submitted his nomination for the position of Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Narwekar filed his nomination in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, party leader Chandrakant Patil, and other prominent leaders.
The election for the Speaker’s post is scheduled to take place on Monday, December 9.
Notably, Narwekar had previously served as the Speaker during the last term of the Mahayuti government. On Saturday, he had taken his oath as the MLA from the Colaba constituency.
In a post on X, Narwekar shared, “In the presence of the constitution, I was elected from Colaba Assembly Constituency and sworn in today as a member of the Legislative Assembly in Dimakh. I will do my best to live up to the trust you have placed in me.”
Senior BJP MLA Kalidas Sulochana Kolambkar has been serving as the pro-tem Speaker of the Assembly.
A total of 173 newly elected MLAs took their oath on Saturday before the house was adjourned. The remaining 115 MLAs, mostly from the opposition, are yet to take their oath.
This comes after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray announced that the party’s winning MLAs would not take the oath during the ongoing special session, citing concerns about the legitimacy of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Thackeray stated, “Today, we have decided that our (Shiv Sena UBT) winning MLAs will not take the oath. If this was the mandate of the people, there would have been celebrations and enthusiasm, but there has been none. We have doubts about the EVMs.”
In response, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar criticized Thackeray’s remarks, urging the opposition to approach the Election Commission or the courts with their concerns. “There is no point in making such allegations here. They should go to the Election Commission and, if not satisfied, to the courts,” Pawar said.