Pune: Who Is Anna Bansode? Ajit Pawar Faction's Pimpri MLA Likely To Become Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker

As Tuesday is the last day to file applications for the election for the post of Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker, NCP MLA from Pimpri, Anna Bansode, submitted his application from the Mahayuti. On this occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was present along with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil from BJP, and Shiv Sena's Uday Samant.

The election for the post of Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker will be held on March 26, on the last day of the ongoing budget session of the state legislature. Bansode is likely to get the position unopposed.

Who is Anna Bansode?

Bansode is an MLA of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar from Pimpri. His name was finalized last week at a meeting attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (BJP), his deputies Ajit Pawar (NCP), and Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena).

Bansode is a close aide of Pawar and a three-time legislator from Pimpri in Pune district. A member of the Scheduled Castes, he is likely to be elected unopposed considering Mahayuti's overwhelming majority in the assembly, with no indication from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to field its nominee.

Even after opposition in the Pimpri constituency, Bansode was given candidacy by NCP due to his personal loyalty to Ajit Pawar. Sources said that during the 2019 rebellion staged by Ajit Pawar, Anna Bansode was the only MLA who remained with him 24/7 while all others left.

He defeated the NCP-SP's Sulakshna Shilwant from the same seat.

What do the numbers say?

At present, the BJP holds 132 seats, Shiv Sena has 57, and NCP has 41 seats.