On Thursday, February 4, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Nana Patole stepped down from his post, handing over his resignation letter to Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal. The next day, on February 5, Patole the MLA from Sakoli in Bhandara district, has replaced revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat as state Congress president.
Within hours after the resignation of Patole’s resignation from Speaker’s post, NCP chief Sharad Pawar sparked a new debate in the state political circles through a statement that there would be fresh negotiations among the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress — to choose a new nominee for the vacant Speaker’s post in the State Assembly.
Talking to reporters, Pawar said, “All the three MVA constituents had a role in appointing the outgoing Speaker. Now that this post has become vacant, there will now be discussion among the leaders of the three MVA constituents to decide on the choice of a new Speaker’s post.”
On being asked whether the Speaker’s post would continue to remain with the Congress, Pawar said: “This will be decided after discussions. Now that the vacancy has arisen it is likely that all the three parties will deliberate on the issue”.
During the impending discussions among the three MVA constituents on the choice of the Speaker, the NCP is likely to stake a claim for the post. The Congress will in all likelihood retain the post.
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