Mumbai: Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has given a deadline of November 30 for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prove his majority in the Vidhan Sabha, but the actual show of strength will be the election of the Assembly Speaker. This will come first, and will determine whether Fadnavis will continue as CM or not.
According to sources in the state legislature, now that the Governor has asked Fadnavis to form the government, the onus is on the CM to prove his majority within the stipulated time. To facilitate this, the Governor will have to initiate the proceedings of the Vidhan Sabha formation.
For this, a brief legislative session will be called in which a pro tem Speaker will be elected to give oath to all newly-elected members of the Assembly. The honour of pro tem Speaker is normally given to the eldest member.
Among the newly-elected members, the Congress’ Balasaheb Thorat is the eldest MLA.
However, given the delicate political situation, the BJP is unlikely to risk making him the pro tem Speaker and would rather have its own person at the helm, said sources.
After swearing in the MLAs the pro tem Speaker will initiate proceedings for the election of the Speaker. If there is a clear majority with either the ruling coalition or the opposition alliance, the Speaker might be elected on just a voice vote. However, if a division is sought in case of an ambiguity, a vote will decide from whose party the Speaker will come, the source added.
If Fadnavis manages to clear the Speaker’s election, it will prove that he has the numbers to win the vote of confidence on November 30. But if he fails, it will confirm that he doesn’t have a majority and will have to resign before facing the floor test.
NCP’s Nawab Malik admitted that the Speaker’s election would be more crucial than even the majority test.
“We will ensure that a single candidate is fielded from the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress alliance to defeat the BJP in that vote.”
