Congress candidate for Assembly speaker post calls on NCP for support

New Delhi, Mumbai: The Congress candidate for Maharashtra Assembly speaker’s post called on NCP chief Sharad Pawar to seek his support, and was told that the NCP will take a call after due deliberations.

Mr Pawar had on Monday said his party’s MLAs will decide on whether to vote for the BJP government or abstain just before the motion for the trust vote is moved.
A meeting of Sena leaders was held late Tuesday over the trust vote and the Speaker’s election. The NCP too held a closed-door meeting to decide strategy, after which its spokesman Nawab Malik said the party’s decision on the Speaker’s election will be conveyed before voting begins at 11 am.

CM Devendra Fadnavis, with the full backing of the Central leadership, is in no mood to withdraw the BJP candidate for Speaker. Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy while taking to reporters in New Delhi, hoped that the “Sena will make a turnaround”, and added that “those who want the development of Maharashtra should come forward to support the BJP”. Mr Rudy evaded questions on whether the Sena’s representative in the Union Cabinet, Anant Geete, would resign or not.