Eknath Shinde govt-backed candidate Rahul Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Sunday defeating Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate Rajan Salvi.
The post of the Speaker was vacant after Congress' Nana Patole resigned from the office in February 2021, to take charge as the party's state unit chief. In the absence of a Speaker, Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal was playing the part of an acting Speaker in the House.
The Speaker elections were held after Eknath Shinde, who led a rebellion to bring down the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on June 30.
When Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar visited FPJ office
Narwekar had visited the Free Press Journal office ahead of the Assembly elections in 2019. He had interacted with the editorial team and had given insights on his priorities if elected and explained what makes the BJP so popular and why he is not particularly worried about the opposition.
When asked about the ideological differences between BJP and Shiv Sena (both were allies then), Narwekar said, "There are a few differences. For example, the Sena is an extreme right-wing party, while the BJP is comparatively liberal. Also, the BJP focuses on both economic and infrastructure development." "Because of the development it has carried out, the effective counter-terrorism measures it has taken and by building a sense of nationalism among the people, the BJP has gained immense popularity, not just among the people of Maharashtra but also in India," he added.
Know more about Rahul Narwekar:
Narwekar left Shiv Sena in 2014 to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Maval constituency as a NCP candidate. However, he suffered defeat but was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council and remained its member till 2019.
The 45-year-old contested the Assembly elections from the Colaba seat on BJP's ticket and emerged victorious.
Interestingly, Narwekar's father-in-law Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member is the Chairman of the state Legislative Council.
(With ANI inputs)
