Maharashtra: BJP obstructed Assembly Speaker’s election, Congress alleges

“The BJP obstructed the Speaker’s election through the governor’s office,” Patole alleged while speaking to reporters.

“Governor B S Koshyari had been informed about the entire process (of election) by sending a letter. The government had taken care that the governor’s post would not be insulted anywhere,” the Congress leader said.

The Speaker’s post is vacant since February 2021 after Patole, who held it then, quit to take over as state Congress chief. “The governor should respect the constitutional position and not indulge in politics,” the Congress leader said.

“It is the prerogative of the legislature to change the rules, there is nothing unconstitutional about it,” Patole claimed.

The process could have been completed in a single day, but the governor sent his letter on the morning of the last day of the session (Tuesday), he said.

“The election will take place in the budget session in February,” Patole added.

The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress was not afraid of the BJP’s “threat of President’s rule,” he said.

The election could not be held earlier as Assembly sessions had been curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Patole said.

As the MVA has 174 members in the 288-member house, there was no truth in the BJP’s allegations (that it was afraid of losing if election was held by ballot), Patole said.

The government deferred the election after receiving a legal opinion that confrontation with the Raj Bhavan be avoided, sources had said earlier in the day.

The Raj Bhavan refused to give its nod for the election schedule, sources claimed.

Koshyari had conveyed to the government earlier that its amendment in the legislative rules to enable Speaker’s election through voice vote instead of ballot was ‘unconstitutional’, and he was checking its constitutional validity.