Mumbai, Dec 1 Congress candidate Nana Patole on Sunday was elected unopposed as Maharashtra Assembly Speaker after the BJP withdrew nomination of its candidate Kisab Kathore. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, along with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress passed the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly with 169 ayes on Saturday.
Mr Patole, 56, represents the Maha Vikas Agadhi alliance comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress. The Congress leader, a four-time MLA, represents the Sakoli Assembly segment in Vidarbha. Mr Patole quit Congress and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket. He left the saffron party in 2017 and returned to the grand old party.