BJP MLC Ram Shinde files nomination for Maharashtra council chairperson election

Bharatiya Janata Party BJP MLC Ram Shinde on Wednesday filed nomination for the Maharashtra council chairperson electionThe Maharashtra council chairperson election will be held on Thursday and if BJP MLC Ram Shinde gets elected the top presiding officers posts in both houses of the state legislature will be with the BJPLast week BJP MLA Rahul Narwekar was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the 15th Maharashtra Legislative AssemblyThe council chairpersons post has been lying vacant since July 7 2022 after NCP leader Ramraje NaikNimbalkars term endedDuring the filing of his nomination Shinde was accompanied by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Deputy CM and NCP leader Ajit Pawar BJP state head Chandrashekar Bawankule and party leader Chandrakant PatilShinde became a member of the state legislative council on July 8 2022He served as a minister in the previous Devendra Fadnavis government from 201419Shinde lost to NCP SP leader Rohit Pawar from Karjat Jamkhed assembly seat in the November 20 state polls by a narrow margin Pawar also defeated him in the 2019 state pollsAmong 78 members in the Upper House of the state legislature the BJP has 19 members Congress 7 Shiv Sena UBT 7 Shiv Sena 6 NCP SP and NCP 5 each and there are 3 Independent membersGovernor C P Radhakrishnan acting on the recommendation of the state cabinet in October approved the names of seven MLCs out of the 12 vacant posts under the gubernatorial quotaOpposition stages protest at Vidhan Bhawan steps over farmers issuesOpposition members staged a protest for the third consecutive day at the Vidhan Bhawan steps on Wednesday accusing the government of apathy towards farmers and not providing them adequate price for crop production reported PTIThe winter session of the Maharashtra legislature began on Monday in NagpurOn Wednesday Leader of Opposition in the legislative council Ambadas Danve his Shiv Sena UBT colleagues Sunil Prabhu and Bhaskar Jadhav Congress leaders Nana Patole Nitin Raut Bhai Jagtap and other Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA legislators staged a demonstration at the Vidhan Bhawan stepsThey raised slogans claiming the government was not addressing the problems of farmers and not paying adequate price to the cultivators for soyabean and cotton crops reported PTISpeaking to reporters Sena UBT leader Danve demanded that paddy farmers be paid a bonusHe claimed the cotton and soyabean farmers were not getting adequate price for their produceOver the last two days the MVA members targeted the BJPled Mahayuti government in the state over various issues including the problems of farmers violence in Parbhani last week and the murder of a sarpanch in Beed districtWith inputs from PTI