Team Herald
PANJIIM: With the election of Rajesh Patnekar as Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, he has become the third politician to don this chair from Bicholim.
After Anant Shet and Pramod Sawant, Patnenkar is the third politician from this area to become the Speaker during last twelve years. With an exception of Rajendra Arlekar, who represented Pernem, politicians from this taluka have been dominating the legislative assembly.
Patnekar, one of the senior most BJP legislators, has become the Speaker for the first time on Tuesday after officiating Speaker Michael Lobo refused to take over the charge full time.
The Bicholim MLA was supported by 22 MLAs against 16 from the Opposition. The tenure of Pratapsingh Rane has been considered as one of the important ones in the era of legislative assembly as he held the charge when Digambar Kamat was the Chief Minister in 2007. Incidentally, Rane is instrumental in giving prominence to Sattari by not only getting elected to this post unopposed but also winning his constituency – Poriem consecutively since nearly 50 years.
Rane has been considered as a strict and neutral Speaker whose experience in the House helped the business to be conducted in a flawlessly. Another experience hand was Arlekar, who introduced the concept of holding entire business in Marathi or Konkani, literally eliminating the tradition of using English terminology.
Sawant, representing the mining belt of Sanquelim was one of the youngest Speakers who was the choice of then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The rise of Sawant in the State’s politics can be attributed to his functioning as Speaker where entire Goa saw him as a matured politician. Sawant’s rise to the post of chief minister was also propelled by his control over the House.
Patnekar, known for his command over Konkani, is also expected to conduct the business in local language. Though the Bicholim MLA could not find a position in the Cabinet, his selection as a Speaker reflects government’s unstinted commitment towards Bicholim taluka.
