Mumbai: The special two-day session of the Maharashtra Assembly will kick off on Sunday, with voting to be held to determine the new Assembly Speaker to replace outgoing Narhari Zirwal. Rahul Narvekar from the BJP and Rajan Salvi representing Shiv Sena have filed applications. Salvi is backed at the moment by Congress and NCP.
Narvekar is backed by a group of 40-rebel Sena MLAs, as well as 10 independent MLAs. This, further backed by 106 BJP MLAs and around 15 Independents backing BJP, takes the count close to 170. Salvi, on the other hand, is expected to be backed by 16 Shiv Sena MLAs, and 54 and 44 legislators from NCP and Congress respectively.
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Amid the current conflict over determining which faction of the Shiv Sena would be considered the official legislature party, newly elected Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been directed by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to prove his majority. The Shinde camp first put up in Surat, and later in Guwahati, before returning to Mumbai on Saturday ahead of the vote of confidence.
