New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has to prove a majority in the state Assembly on July 4. The Special Session of the Maharashtra Assembly will be held on July 3 and 4, when the newly formed Shinde government will face the vote of confidence. The nomination for Speaker’s election will be filed on July 2 and the election will be held on July 3. The Speaker post has been vacant since Congress MLA Nana Patole resigned last year.


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As per ANI sources, top Maharashtra BJP MLAs including Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will meet today to discuss the Assembly Speaker’s election. "The name of the candidate is likely to be finalised in the meeting," sources said. 


In a surprise move, Eknath Shinde was announced as the Maharashtra CM on Thursday while Devendra Fadnavis took oath as his Deputy. Shinde has claimed he has the support of 50 MLAs including those from Shiv Sena and Independents. 


Earlier on Thursday, Eknath Shinde and Fadnavis had met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and staked a claim to form the government. 


Meanwhile, taking a dig at the newly-formed Shinde government, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Friday (July 1) questioned BJP's decision to install a "so-called Shiv Sainik" as Maharashtra chief minister. “About what happened yesterday, I had told Amit Shah earlier as well that there should be a Shiv Sena CM for 2.5 years (during Shiv Sena-BJP alliance). Had they done this earlier, there would've been no Maha Vikas Aghadi,” Thackeray was quoted as saying by ANI. 


“The manner in which Govt has been formed and a so-called Shiv Sena worker has been made CM, I had said the same to Amit Shah. This could've been done respectfully. The Shiv Sena was officially with you (at that time). This CM (Eknath Shinde) is not a Shiv Sena CM,” he added. 


(With agency inputs)