Nagpur: BJP MLC Ram Shinde was unanimously elected the chairperson of the legislative council on Thursday.
Shinde’s chairmanship proposal was introduced by Shrikant Bhartiya of the BJP and supported by Manisha Kayande of the Shiv Sena, Amol Mitkari of the NCP and Dnyaneshwar Mhatre of the BJP.
Shinde was elected unanimously through a voice vote. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis thanked the legislative council for Shinde’s unanimous election.
“This year we mark the 300th birth anniversary of Ahilyadevi, and Ram Shinde is from the ninth generation of Ahilyadevi’s father’s family. We have paid a perfect tribute to her in a way,” Fadnavis said.
Shinde’s election as chairperson is a setback of sorts for the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. There was a tussle over the chairperson’s post between the Shiv Sena and BJP.
Neelam Gorhe, the deputy chairperson, was said to be in the race from the Shiv Sena.
Even in the assembly, Rahul Narwekar of the BJP was elected unopposed as speaker a few days ago.
Elections to the chairperson’s post were not held after Ramraje Nimbalkar’s tenure ended in July 2022, an outcome of the split in the Shiv Sena and NCP in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
The BJP possesses a majority in the council, but the Shiv Sena was keen to get the post since the speaker’s post was with BJP in the assembly.
Party sources said the BJP picked Ram Shinde for the job as he was from the Dhangar community. He was an MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed before his defeat by Rohit Pawar of the undivided NCP in 2019. Pawar, onw an NCP (SP) candidate, again defeated Shinde in the recent assembly election.