Uddhav Thackeray defends 2-day Assembly session & delay in Speaker's poll amid BJP grouse

Writing to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday, CM Uddhav Thackeray gave a point-by-point reply on the demands put forth by BJP's Devendra Fadnavis. On June 24, Koshyari had asked for the Sena chief's clarification on the issues raised in the memorandum submitted by a BJP Legislative Party delegation led by Fadnavis. The ex-CM had demanded extending the Maharashtra Assembly session, filling the post of the Assembly Speaker at the earliest and staying the local body elections. 

First, Thackeray mentioned that the Business Advisory Committee of the state legislature held a meeting on June 22 in which a decision was taken to conduct the Monsoon session on July 5 and 6 owing to the COVID-19 situation. Mentioning that the second wave in the state had not receded yet, he also cited the threat of the impending third wave. He wrote, "A comprehensive discussion was held on the concerns expressed by experts of the state's Task Force over the transmission of the Delta and Delta Plus variants and the Centre urging caution".

He also defended the delay in conducting the election for the Speaker's post which has been vacant since the resignation of Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole. The Sena supremo pointed out that no constitutional violation has taken place when Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal has been at the helm of affairs. Thackeray again cited the novel coronavirus crisis as the main reason for letting the status quo prevail.  

"As per the guidelines of the WHO and Union Health Ministry, an RT-PCR test has a validity period of 72 hours. Therefore, it is not proper to decide the date for the election of the Assembly Speaker in advance. The election for the Assembly Speaker will be done at an appropriate time taking into account the COVID-19 situation, the health of the legislators and the guarantee that they will attend the session," the Maharashtra CM affirmed. 

Here is the CM Uddhav Thackeray's letter:

In the letter, Thackeray also revealed that the state government itself had written to the State Election Commission for the postponement of by-elections to the Zilla Parishads of Dhule, Nandurbar, Akola, Washim and Nagpur. As per the verdict dated March 4, the Supreme Court struck down 27% OBC reservation in Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis in Maharashtra. The CM also raised this issue with the Prime Minister during his recent visit to the national capital. Many OBC outfits and political parties including BJP have staged protests demanding restoration of the reservation.