Rahul Narvekar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was on Sunday elected as the Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. He polled 164 votes against 107 votes polled by Rajan Salvi, a Shiv Sena MLA and Uddhav Thackeray loyalist who was the joint candidate of the Sena-NCP-Congress combine.
With Narvekar's election, Maharashtra has become the only state in the country where the presiding officers of both the legislature are in-laws, as while Rahul is now Legislative Assmebly speaker, his father-in-law Ramraje Naik of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is the chairperson of the Legislative Council.
In addition to his father-in-law, Narvekar's brother Makarand is also in politics. He is a corporator from Colaba.
Narvekar is also the youngest ever Assembly Speaker in the country at the age of 45, according to Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Narvekar is a first-time legislator from Mumbai's Colaba Assembly constituency. Prior to joining BJP, he has been associated with Shiv Sena and NCP.
Narvekar was a spokesperson of the youth wing of Shiv Sena in early years. He quit Sena and joined NCP in 2014. He claimed at the time that inaccessibility of party top brass —meaning Uddhav Thackeray— prompted him to quit the Sena.
Narvekar contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Maval, losing to Shrirang Appa Barne of the Shiv Sena.
Narvekar joined the BJP before the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls from Colaba. He won the Colaba Assembly seat, defeating Congress' Ashok Jagtap.
(With PTI inputs)
