Mumbai: Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday appointed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kalidas Kolambkar as the pro tem speaker of the Assembly.
Eight-time Wadala MLA Kolambkar was one of the candidates recommended for the post to the governor. “The governor has administered the oath to Kolambkar as pro tem speaker of the Assembly. Kolambkar will administer the oath to remaining 287 MLAs during the Assembly session,” said an official from Raj Bhavan.
Koshyari has called a special session of the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday where floor test will be conducted after pro-tem speaker administers the oath to the 288 newly-elected members, an official said on Tuesday.
The oath will be administered by Kolambkar at the session, which will begin at 8 am.
Kolambkar, who was elected on a BJP ticket this time, was earlier with the Congress party. Before joining the Congress in 2005, Kolambkar was a senior leader of the Shiv Sena. He is considered a close confidant of former chief minister Narayan Rane.
Interestingly, Kolambkar is not the senior-most MLA in the present Assembly. The honour goes to Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, who has been elected as the Congress legislative party leader.
Earlier in the day, ordering a floor test for the Devendra Fadnavis government, the Supreme Court had asked Koshyari to appoint a pro tem speaker and ensure all elected members of the House are sworn-in on Wednesday. However, the Supreme Court order was followed by the resignations of Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
