Nagpur Winter Sessions witnessed elections of four Deputy Speakers
| Date :12-Dec-2019 |
Principal Correspondent :
Nagpur Winter Sessions of State Legislature have witnessed elections of four Deputy Speakers, so far. All other Deputy Speakers were elected in Mumbai session. Out of the four elected in Nagpur, two were from Vidarbha while one was from Tuljapur and one from Pune. Laxman Sonopant alias Anna Joshi (Pune) was elected as Deputy Speaker during Winter Session in Nagpur. His election was conducted on December 20, 1990. He continued on the post till July 3, 1991.
Pramod Bhaurao Shende from Wardha got elected as Deputy Speaker on December 23, 1999. He enjoyed the post for ten long years till November 3, 2009. Madhukar Chavan (Tuljapur) was elected as Deputy Speaker on December 10, 2009. He continued till November 18, 2010. Vasant Purke (Yavatmal), known for his tenure as Education Minister also enjoyed the Deputy Speakership between December 4, 2010 and November 2014. In the forthcoming Winter Session at Nagpur, one more Deputy Speaker will be elected. In another development, this session will be the first to have no Question Hour.
This is due to delay in formation of new Government. In 1986, the winter session got lingered on and was held in the month of January, instead of December, when Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar became Chief Minister. Then Question Hour was not omitted. Usually, it takes a month to start the process of holding Winter Session as questions are invited, scrutinised, typed along with the answers from departments concerned. There are aspects too, including drafting resolutions, preparing several documents. But time can be saved by limiting number of questions. On a few occasions in the past, such practice was adopted. Of course, Mahavikas Aaghadi is yet to allocate portfolios even after 12 days since oath-taking by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and six others. After Nagpur Accord, it was decided that a four-week Winter Session of State Legislatures would be held at Nagpur. Except on a few occasions, the session never lasted four weeks.
Deputy Speaker’s post remained vacant for four years after 2014 After the end of tenure of Vasant Purke as Deputy Speaker of Assembly in 2014, when Devendra Fadnavis Government came to power, his successor was to be elected. Surprisingly, nobody was elected for the reasons best known to the politicians. Even the Opposition did not raise the issue. Finally, on November 30, 2018, Vijayrao Auti of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was elected unanimously. With new Government in, new Deputy Speaker is likely to be elected in Nagpur session. Along with Deputy Speaker, Leader of Opposition in State Legislative Council is to be elected too.