Mumbai: Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who support Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde returned to Mumbai from Goa on Saturday evening on the eve of a special two-day session of the state legislature which will see election for the post of Assembly Speaker as well as a floor test of the new government.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar claimed that Narhari Zirwal, the deputy Speaker, can still perform officiating Speaker's duties even though a no-confidence motion is pending against him. The post of Speaker is vacant since last year.
Earlier in the day, Sena MLA and Uddhav Thackeray loyalist Rajan Salvi filed his nomination as the candidate of the Shiv Sena-NCP- Congress coalition for the Speaker's election, which will be held on Sunday.
He will face off with first-time BJP legislator Rahul Narvekar who also filed his nomination.
On July 4, newly sworn-in Chief Minister Shinde will take a floor test.
As many as 50 MLAs who support Shinde, including 39 rebel legislators of the Shiv Sena, on Saturday evening flew to Mumbai from Goa by a chartered flight. Shinde, who had flown to Goa in the morning, accompanied them back.
The MLAs were camping at a starred hotel in Dona Paula since June 29 after flying to Goa from Guwahati. Many of them had left Maharashtra on June 21 along with Shinde.
After landing in Mumbai, the rebel MLAs would be staying in a hotel before they attend the special session on Sunday morning, sources said.
In Mumbai, security had been tightened at the airport to avoid any untoward incident in the wake of the recent violent protests against rebel MLAs by Shiv Sena cadres in some parts of the state.
On Wednesday, Thackeray resigned as chief minister after the Supreme Court refused to stay the floor test ordered by the governor and it became apparent that Shinde had support of the majority of Sena MLAs.
Shinde took oath as CM the next day with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.