Maharashtra: Election for Speaker's post today, Congress' Nana Patole to face off with BJP's Kathore

The election of for Maharashtra Assembly Speaker’s post will be held today, a day after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP alliance cleared the floor test. The ruling alliance has announced party MLA Nana Patole as its candidate for the post, while the BJP named Kisan Kathore as its nominee. “Nana Patole will be our candidate for the Speaker’s election,” Congress leader Manikrao Thakre said on Saturday. Patole, who represents the Sakoli Assembly segment in Vidarbha, is a BJP rebel who joined Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and unsuccessfully contested against Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and lost. Patole hoped he would be elected unopposed.

“They (the BJP) have the right in democracy (to field a candidate). But it has been a tradition in Maharashtra that Speaker is elected unopposed. We hope that tradition continues,” the Congress leader told reporters.

State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said Kathore, party MLA from Murbad in Thane district, will be its candidate.

Both Patole and Kathore are in their fourth term as MLA. Kathore was elected as Thane zilla parishad president in 2002. He became MLA for the first time in 2004 on NCP ticket from Ambernath in Thane district.

He went on to win 2009, 2014 and 2019 Assembly elections from Murbad. He contested the 2014 and 2019 elections on BJP’s ticket.

Earlier on Friday, Nationalist Congress Party MLA Dilip Walse Patil was on Friday appointed as pro-tem Speaker. He replaced BJP lawmaker Kalidas Kolambkar who was earlier this week appointed to the post.

The ruling alliance has passed the floor test as 169 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly voted in its favour, while the BJP’s 105 MLAs staged a walkout.