Mumbai, November 26: With the Supreme Court ordering a floor test in Maharashtra on Wednesday, all eyes will be on the appointment of pro-tem speaker in the state assembly. Prior to the floor test during which Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will have to prove majority, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will appoint and swear-in the pro-tem speaker. By established conventions, the seniormost MLA is usually appointed a pro-tem speaker. Maharashtra Power Tussle: NCP, Shiv Sena, Congress Show Unity, Sharad Pawar Says 'Will Bring More Than 162 MLAs During Floor Test'.

The appointment of a pro-tem speaker assumes significance in view of a bitter power struggle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress. The pro-tem speaker is likely to decide who is NCP's Legislature Party chief. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on November 23 sacked rebel legislator Ajit Pawar as its Legislature Party chief and replaced him with Jayant Patil. It has informed the Raj Bhawan about the replacement of Ajit Pawar as the legislature party leader.

  • Balasaheb Thorat: Congress MLA from Sangamner, Balasaheb Thorat is the seniormost legislator with eight terms behind him.

  • Ajit Pawar: Deputy Chief Minister and NCP rebel, Ajit Pawar is among those who are seven-time elected MLAs.

  • Jayant Patil: NCP's Legislature Party chief Jayant Patil has also won election seven times. Senior NCP leader Dilip Walse-Patil has been elected seven times.

  • BJP's Babanrao Pachpute and Kalidas Kolambkar, and Congress's KC Padvi are also seven-time elected MLAs.

  • Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil: Congress turncoat and current BJP leader, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil is also in the fray. He is among six-time elected MLAs. Others in the list are BJP's Haribhau Bagade and NCP's Chhagan Bhujbal.

In the 13th Vidhan Sabha, the seniormost nine-time elected MLA Sangole (Solapur), Ganpatrao Deshmukh of the Peasants & Workers Party had declined the honour on health grounds. Accordingly, the second seniormost member, Jiva Pandu Gavit, a seven-time MLA of the CPI(M), was appointed pro-tem speaker and conducted the oath of all the members. This time, however, Deshmukh (93), did not contest the polls, while Gavit lost the elections, leaving Thorat as the senior-most legislator.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 26, 2019 01:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).