Why is MVA govt on backfoot even after a majority in the house

Pune (Maharashtra, India): After Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari refused to give his nod for the election of the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker citing that the issue was sub-judice, this decision of the governor had put the MVA government on the backfoot.

Prominent MVA ministers and leaders requested Koshyari to hold the speaker election during the ongoing budget session of the assembly. But considering the situation and to avoid constitutional deadlock, it was said that the MVA government is likely to postpone the election of Assembly Speaker but there was no official announcement regarding the same.

Senior Congress Leader Nana Patole slammed Koshyari for postponing the election. He said, “Koshyari is not Rajpal he is Bhajpal. His every decision is politically motivated. In fact, he should respect the constitutional post that he is holding and avoid playing politics.’’

The fear that the BJP will poach on their MLAs has been an overriding fear of the Congress Party. It was said that, Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, Suresh Warpudkar and  MLA Sangram Thopte are the frontrunners for the post speaker and due to the simmering disgruntlement amongst the  MLAs against its leadership, the MVA government did not want the speaker’s election to be held by secret ballot paper. Hence, in the last winter session of the assembly, the state government amended rules for speaker's election from ballot system to voice vote.

Governor Koshyari  had reportedly objected to the change made by the legislature’s rules committee to conduct the Speaker's election through open vote instead of secret ballot, terming it unconstitutional. Opposition Leader Devendra Fadnavis criticized the government's move to change the rule for the election. He said, “If you have a majority, why are you scared and why are you changing rules? Why do you want elections through show of hands (open voting)? This means that the MVA allies don't trust each other and also their own legislators.”

“Any meeting for change of the legislative rules has to be convened by the speaker. Deputy speaker doesn't have the authority. Without the speaker such a meeting is not valid,” he added.

Further, the new rules were challenged in the Bombay High Court by BJP MLA Girish Mahajan. Though the high court dismissed his plea, Mahajan further approached the Supreme Court alleging an amendment made by the government under which the secret ballot method was replaced with an open vote system is not valid. Now Governor refused to declare election date citing matter is sub-judice.

Since February 2021, the state legislative assembly has been without a speaker. This post, which is held by the Senior Congress leader Nana Patole has become a matter of tussle between the MVA government and Governor of Maharashtra.

The ongoing budget session of the legislative assembly ends on March 25. However, a major section of the government (Shiv Sena and National Congress Party leaders) is willing not to put the government at stake for the speaker’s post hence they are not pushing too hard for the elections.