Concerned over the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday asked residents to strictly follow government-mandated guidelines on masks and social distancing or prepare for another round of lockdowns. Ahead of the upcoming Budget Session and a potentially difficult election for the post of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday took to dinner diplomacy to unite the legislators of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), and met MVA legislators from Western Maharashtra.
Legislators said neither did Thackeray make any speech at the dinner, nor did any other senior minister present there.
Apart from Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Congress minister Ashok Chavan and others were present at the dinner. Thackeray will meet MVA legislators of Western Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Khandesh and Konkan for three days.
The Budget Session of the state legislature will start from March 1. While the MVA was preparing for the Budget Session, the Congress changed its state president and handed over the responsibility to Nana Patole, which led to Patole resigning from the post of Assembly Speaker. Now, the election to the post of Assembly Speaker is likely to be held in the Budget Session.
If the BJP fields a candidate, the MVA is likely to come under pressure as the opposition party will make attempts to break away legislators from the three-party ruling coalition for the vote.
