Maharashtra: No rift in MVA, speaker will be from Congress, says Nana Patole

MUMBAI: Even as state Congress president Nana Patole on Friday said there was no rift in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government over the speaker’s nomination, there is complete uncertainty over the elections in view of the pandemic situation.
Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat said all will depend on the outcome of the RT-PCR test of the legislators. “All legislators will have to undergo RT-PCR test to ensure they are not suffering from Covid-19.If a large number of legislators test positive, we will have to postpone the speaker’s election,” said Thorat.
CM Uddhav Thackeray too expressed similar views in his letter to governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. “We will take into consideration the current pandemic situation. We will have to take note of the health of the legislators, ensure they can be present and then take a decision on holding the election,’’ he said.
Patole reiterated that the new speaker will be from the Congress. Situation will be clear only after the outcome of the RT-PCR test of the legislators. “It is unfortunate that BJP is using Raj Bhavan and playing politics over speaker’s election,” he said.
On the Maratha reservation, Patole said following the apex court verdict, it has been clearly established that the ball is now in the NDA government’s court. “Following the 102nd amendment to the constitution, powers of the state government to make reservations have been withdrawn. Despite such a situation, Devendra Fadnavis brought in a legislation to provide for reservations to Marathas. In view of the Supreme Court verdict, BJP has been completely exposed. BJP is misleading the Marathas,’’ he said.