Maharashtra cabinet today decided to convene a special sitting of the Legislative Council on July 8 for the election of the Chairman.
Current Chairman Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar of NCP is set to be reelected as he has the support of Congress too.
The new Chairman as well as eleven members who were elected to the upper house recently would take oath on July 8, an official from the Chief Minister's office said.
As per the understanding between Congress and NCP, the post of the Deputy Chairman will be offered to Congress.
A senior Congress leader said that during the recent election for MLCs, Congress supported NCP candidates in return for latter's support to Congress for Deputy Chairman.
The post of Deputy Chairman fell vacant after Vasant Davkhare's term ended and he lost in recent polls.
NCP state unit president Sunil Tatkare said agenda of the special session was only to elect the Chairman. "Once the monsoon session starts, the Chief Minister, parliamentary affairs minister and the Chairman will table the agenda for electing the Deputy Chairman," Tatkare told PTI.
A BJP leader said the ruling party was trying to enlist NCP's support for the Deputy Chairman's post. "We supported NCP when they wanted to remove Shivajirao Deshmukh (Congress), the then chairman, and brought a no-confidence motion. The NCP should now give the post to us," he said.
But an NCP leader said it would support Congress candidate for the post.
