Speaker's election dropped in Maharashtra

In an attempt to avoid yet another collision with the Raj Bhavan, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government dropped their plans to conduct the election to the post of Speaker on the last day of the weeklong Winter session of the Maharashtra assembly.

Rejecting MVA's plea to hold the elections through a voice note instead of a secret ballot, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyaru said that the amendments in the rules to the effect were in violation of the constitution. However, the MVA leaders are firm on the ground that it is well within the laws and the government's jurisdiction.

MVA allies Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress leaders met earlier in the day and decided not to pursue the issue so as to avoid a possible collision with the Raj Bhavan besides legal or constitutional implications.

Though three letters were sent to the Raj Bhavan on the matter, the issue remains unresolved. Hence, the Speaker's election may be held only during the Budget session, MVA leaders hinted.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has opposed the amendment to rules to elections by voice note instead of secret ballot since the very beginning. State BJP President Chandrakant Patil even warned that the President's rule might be imposed in the state if the government insisted on going ahead with the polls.