Three-time Shiv Sena MLA Vijay Auti was Friday unanimously elected Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Earlier, Harshvardhan Sakpal of the Congress and Independent legislator Bacchu Kadu withdrew their nomination papers. The announcement of the election was made by Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Leader of the Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil escorted Auti to the seat of the Deputy Speaker which is next to that of the Leader of Opposition. Fadnavis described Auti as a leader rooted to the ground who enjoys unstinted support from his constituents in Parner Assembly seat in Ahmednagar district.
The NCP’s Ajit Pawar said the post was lying vacant for four years and the appointment indicates the BJP and Shiv Sena have patched up and an alliance between the two saffron parties was a possibility. Pawar said, as per tradition, the deputy speaker’s post goes to the opposition but the tradition was not followed by the Congress-NCP government either. “We thought Fadnavis would revert to the tradition,” Pawar added.