Congress leader Nana Patole to be Maharashtra Speaker as BJP withdraws nominee

Congress leader Nana Patole is all set to
become Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly as BJP candidate Kisan
Kathore withdrew his nomination on Sunday.

The deadline to withdraw the nomination was
10 am on Sunday.

The Congress on Saturday announced party MLA
Patole as the candidate of the ruling Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP alliance for the
election to state Assembly Speaker’s post, while the BJP named Kathore as its
nominee.

Nana Patole represents Sakoli Assembly
segment in Vidarbha, while Kathore is from Murbad in Thane district.This is the
fourth term as an MLA for both.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi
government passed the floor test in the state Assembly on Saturday.

Altogether 169 MLAs voted in favour of the
motion of confidence after the BJP, which has 105 MLAs, staged a walkout before
the headcount began in the 288-member House.