BJP's Kalidas Kolambkar on Pro-Tem Speaker post: Ready if required

BJP MLA Kalidas Kolambkar on Tuesday said that he is ready to be the Pro-Tem Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly if the party agrees to give him the responsibility. Speaking to news agency ANI in Mumbai, the BJP leader said, "With the grace of God, I believe that everything will be okay. No name has been finalized till now. Yes, I will take responsibility, if the party agrees to it. I can do the batting."

Governor to appoint Pro-Tem speaker

With the Supreme Court ordering a floor test on Wednesday in Maharashtra, a major question that arose on Tuesday is - who will be made the Pro-Tem Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly? Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will appoint the Pro-Tem Speaker, who, in turn, will have to administer the oath of office to all the newly-elected MLAs of the Legislative Assembly.

SC ordered floor test for proving majority

The Apex court on Tuesday ordered that a floor test for proving the majority of Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra should be conducted in the Legislative Assembly before 5 pm on November 27, days after BJP's Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the state's Chief Minister. The floor test is a constitutional mechanism under which a chief minister can be asked to prove majority in the state Assembly.

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We are '162', claimed Sena-Cong-NCP

On Monday, 162 MLAs of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP took an oath of allegiance at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, stating that they 'will not succumb to BJP' and will remain with the Maha Vikas Aghadi. BJP has slammed the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena for insulting all the MLAs and the voters of the state by making them take an oath in a private gathering. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLAs are still holed in Lemon Tree Hotel, Congress MLAs are in JW Marriott and NCP MLAs are in Grand Hyatt Hotel.

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Fadnavis becomes CM, Ajit Pawar Deputy CM

In a massive turn of events, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday morning was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and NCP's Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as Deputy CM. While Ajit Pawar claimed that he has the support of a few other NCP MLAs, all of them have sworn allegiance to NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar. Distancing his party from Ajit Pawar's decision, Sharad Pawar removed him from as leader of the NCP Legislative Party and appointed Jayant Patil at his place.

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(With ANI inputs)