Maharashtra Assembly Speaker election to take place today: Here's what we know so far

As the two-day monsoon session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly concludes on Tuesday, the elections for a new Assembly Speaker are also likely to be held on Tuesday. The decision was also announced by some MVA leaders even as the political scenario had heated up in Maharashtra. There were reports of tensions among the MVA allies and it accelerated on Monday after the Presiding Officer in the Assembly suspended 12 BJP MLAs for creating ruckus and misbehaving in the House.

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker election

Earlier, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Nana Patole had revealed that the Shiv Sena-led MVA government was keen on holding the Speaker's election during the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly. In addition, Patole also declared that the new Speaker will be from the Congress party, which is an MVA constituent. The expected election to elect a new speaker comes after the post fell vacant earlier this year as Patole stepped down to take the helm of the Maharashtra Congress. 

The MPCC chief also hit out at the BJP and alleged that it is resorting to politics over the issue by using the Governor's office. Patole also informed that the decision to hold a Speaker's election will be taken after all legislators undergo a COVID-19 test. The Congress leader has also maintained that his party will respect the final decision that will be taken by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. 

Thackeray had penned a letter to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari defending the decision to hold a monsoon session of the legislature only for two days. Apparently, Thackeray had added the duration cannot be extended considering the current COVID-19 situation. 

BJP MLAs suspended 

Earlier on Monday, 12 BJP MLAs were suspended from the Maharashtra assembly for allegedly 'misbehaving' with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the House. The suspended MLAs include Dr Sanjay Kute, Ashish Shelar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Harish Pimple, Jaikumar Rawal, Yogesh Sagar, Narayan Kuche, Bunty Bhangdiya, Parag Alvani and Ram Satpute.