Ajit Pawar's aide Anna Bansode elected deputy speaker of Maharashtra assembly

Mumbai: NCP legislator Anna Bansode was unanimously elected as deputy speaker of the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Wednesday. Three-term MLA Bansode is a close aide of Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar. The motion for electing Bansode as the deputy speaker was moved by Pawar and seconded by BJP minister Chandrakant Patil.

The motion was passed by a voice vote, and speaker Rahul Narwekar announced that Bansode was elected unopposed. Members from various political parties, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (BJP), his deputies Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena) and Ajit Pawar and opposition leaders, escorted Bansode to his seat. Bansode, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, is a three-term legislator from Pimpri in Pune district. In 2019, the undivided NCP's tribal MLA Narhari Zirwal was elected as the deputy speaker. He is currently a minister in the BJP-led Mahayuti government. In the 288-member assembly, the BJP has 132 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena (57) and the NCP (41).