Anna Bansode set to become Maha Assembly's Deputy Speaker

Mumbai, March 25 (IANS) The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator from Pimpri Assembly constituency, Anna Bansode, is set to become the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Bansode on Tuesday filed his nomination with the legislative secretary in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil and industry minister Uday Samant. The time for filing of nominations was till 12 pm on Tuesday. No one from the opposition filed the nomination.

NCP had also shortlisted the name of party legislator Rajkumar Badola from Chimur district for the post of deputy speaker, but finally zeroed in on Bansode.

The MahaYuti has strength of 237 legislators in the state Assembly, and therefore, Bansode’s election as the deputy speaker is certain.

He will take over as the deputy speaker on Wednesday which is the last day of the ongoing budget session of the state legislature. Bansode, who could not get the ministerial berth, has been picked by DCM Ajit Pawar personally. Bansode will enjoy ministerial status. As a part of understanding among the MahaYuti partners, the BJP and Shiv Sena gave the deputy speaker’s post to the NCP.

Bansode was elected for the fourth term to the state Assembly. He was first elected as NCP nominee in 2009, again in 2014 and then in 2019. After Ajit Pawar deserted his uncle and the NCP founder, Sharad Pawar, to join MahaYuti, Bansode joined the former. He was elected as NCP nominee in the MahaYuti alliance in the 2024 Assembly election. Ajit Pawar’s move to select Bansode for the deputy speaker’s post is important, especially in the run-up to the upcoming election to the Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation.

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