Maharashtra Assembly to convene on July 2, Speaker election on agenda

The new Maharashtra State cabinet has decided to convene a special session of the State Assembly on July 2 and 3. A new speaker is expected to be elected during the session.

In a surprising move, Eknath Shinde, leader of the rebel Shiv Sena group was sworn in as chief minister on Thursday evening and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM. The first cabinet meeting was conducted on Thursday evening.

The speaker post has been remaining vacant since the resignation of Congress leader Nana Patole in February 2021. The Uddhav Thackeray government tried to overcome the crisis by disqualifying a group of 16 rebel MLAs through the deputy speaker. However, the Supreme Court hearing the matter recently extended the deadline for rebels to respond to disqualification notices till July 11. With a speaker getting elected, the matter may become infructuous, sources in the know of developments said. The new government is expected to face floor test on Saturday.