Sensing loss of influence, Congress wants new speaker in this session itself

The Congress has begun exerting pressure on the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to hold election for the new Maharashtra Assembly Speaker in the current assembly session itself. The Congress ministers are believed to have raised the issue in the cabinet meeting on Sunday as the party feels it has little influence and say in the state government.

Maharashtra assembly does not have a speaker since the former speaker, Nana Patole, resigned before being made the state Congress chief. After Patole’s exit, deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal from the NCP is officiating as the Speaker. When the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was being formed there were to be two deputy chief minister, one from the NCP and the other from the Congress. However, the Congress leadership bargained away the post for the Assembly speaker’s post. The party leadership in Maharashtra later on realised its mistake as both the CM and deputy CM Ajit Pawar had the power to call up officials and summon meetings while the Congress did not have any pull in the government.

The party is now worried that even the assembly speaker’s post is not going to be given to them, which means even lesser influence of the party in the government. Since the assembly session ends on March 10, the Congress has sounded out both the Sena and NCP leadership that they need to have the elections for the speaker before the current session ends. The state Congress leadership has already sounded out all it MLAs to be present in full attendance for the next three days.