Deputy speaker to be elected after 4 yrs

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly will get a deputy speaker after the longest gap of four years, with the election for the vacant constitutional post being announced Wednesday. The election will be held on November 30.

After the Shiv Sena joined the BJP-led state government in 2014, it was decided that the deputy chairman’s post would go to the Sena. But the government never filled up the post due to tensions between both parties.

Earlier, the Congress and Nationalist Congre-ss Party had a deal for these posts. NCP used to get the speaker’s post in the Assembly whereas the Congress used to get the deputy speaker’s post. So when the BJP-Sena alliance government was formed, it was expected that both parties would follow the trend.

Now, BJP has offered to get the post filled. BJP senior leader Chandrak-ant Patil met Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray late Tuesday night. In that meeting, the Sena exte-nded support to Maratha reservation. At the same time, the BJP offered the deputy speaker’s post.

Shiv Sena’s Vijay Auti, three-term MLA from Ahmednagar’s partner Assembly constituency, will contest the deputy speaker’s election. It is unlikely that the opposition parties would give their candidate looking at the clear majority with the government. So, his election will be done on the last day of this session.