Rahul Narwekar

Rahul Narwekar is an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is currently the MLA from the Colaba Assembly constituency and also the current Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Narwekar was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council in June 2016 as a Governor's Nominated member. He is the second-youngest (age 44) person to be elected speaker of any state in the country, the youngest being Shivraj Patil (age 42).^[1][2] In May 2023, he completed a 4-day UK tour speaking at the Ideas for India Conference organised by Bridge India in London,^[3] and speaking with students at Cambridge University. His tour attracted media attention^[4][5][6][7] because of its proximity to the Supreme Court judgement on the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.^[8] In November 2024 he was re-elected on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Colaba constituency and won by a huge margin.

Rahul Narwekar
Rahul Narwekar at the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Bhavan) in Mumbai
16th Speaker of the House Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 July 2022
Governor	Bhagat Singh Koshyari Ramesh Bais C. P. Radhakrishnan
Deputy	Narhari Sitaram Zirwal (Till 2024)
Chief Minister	Eknath Shinde (2022-2024) Devendra Fadnavis (From 2024)
Deputy CMs	Devendra Fadnavis (2022-2024) Ajit Pawar (From 2023) Eknath Shinde (From 2024)
Preceded by	Narhari Sitaram Zirwal (acting)
Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2019
Preceded by	Raj K. Purohit
Constituency	Colaba
Member of Maharashtra Legislative Council
In office 2014–2019
Constituency	Nominated by Governor
Personal details
Born	(1977-02-11) 11 February 1977 (age 47) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party (2019–present)
Other political affiliations	Nationalist Congress Party (2014–2019) Shiv Sena (till 2014)
Spouse	Sarojini Naik Nimbalkar ​ ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	2 daughters
Education	Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Law
Occupation	Advocate, Politician
Website	rahulnarwekar.com

Personal life

Rahul Narwekar is the son-in-law of senior NCP leader Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar. Rahul's father, Suresh Narwekar was a Municipal Councillor from the Colaba area. Rahul's brother Makarand Narwekar is a second-term Municipal Councillor, currently from Ward No. 227.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]} His sister-in-law Harshita Narwekar is also a Municipal Councillor on a Bhartiya Janata Party ticket from the Cuffe Parade area. ^[15]

Political career

Narwekar began his political career with the Shiv Sena party, where he served as a spokesperson for the youth wing. After 15 years with the Shiv Sena, Narwekar left the party in 2014 when he was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha election.^[16] He then joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from the Maval constituency but was unsuccessful. In June 2016, Narwekar was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council as a Governor's Nominated member.^[17] In 2019, Narwekar switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and successfully contested the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election from the Colaba constituency, winning by 16,195 votes (57,420 total votes in his favour).^[18] On July 3, 2022, Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. At the age of 45, he became the youngest person to be elected as Speaker of any state legislature in India.^[19] In May 2023, Narwekar was tasked by the Supreme Court of India with deciding on the disqualification petitions of 34 MLAs from the two factions of Shiv Sena that emerged after the party split in 2022.^[20] In November 2024, he was re-elected as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Colaba constituency, winning by a massive margin of 48,581 votes totalling 68.49% vote share (81,085 votes) of all votes polled (1,18,389).^[21]

Year	Party	Position/Event
1999–2014	Shiv Sena	Spokesperson for youth wing
2014	Nationalist Congress Party	Joined NCP after being denied Lok Sabha ticket by Shiv Sena
2014	Nationalist Congress Party	Unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha election from Maval constituency
2016	Nationalist Congress Party	Elected to Maharashtra Legislative Council as Governor's Nominated member
2019	Bharatiya Janata Party	Joined BJP
2019	Bharatiya Janata Party	Elected as MLA from Colaba
2022	Bharatiya Janata Party	Elected as Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
2023	Bharatiya Janata Party	Tasked by Supreme Court to decide on disqualification petitions of Shiv Sena MLAs
2024	Bharatiya Janata Party	Re-elected as MLA from Colaba

References

1. "Who is Rahul Narwekar, the newly elected Maharashtra assembly speaker?". 3 July 2022. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
2. The Economic Times (3 July 2022). "BJP's Rahul Narvekar elected Maharashtra Assembly Speaker". Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
3. India, Bridge. "Bridge India". bridgeindia.org.uk. Bridge India. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
4. "Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to leave on 4-day UK tour". Times of India. Times of India. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
5. "Difficult to set firm timeframe but will try to resolve matters at the earliest: Maha Speaker on SC verdict". deccanherald.com. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
6. ""Difficult To Set Time Frame As...": Maharashtra Speaker After Big Supreme Court Order". NDTV.com. NDTV. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
7. "A day before SC judgement, Narwekar leaves for London saying govt is stable". hindustantimes.com. Hindustan Times.
8. Mitra, Anwesha. "Back Maharashtra politics: What happens if 16 Shiv Sena MLAs are really disqualified?". livemint.com. Livemint. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
9. Rahul Narwekar opts out of MLC poll fray, goes incommunicado
10. Shiv Sena leader Rahul Narwekar joins NCP
11. Shiv Sena leader Rahul Narwekar joins NCP, to contest from Maval
12. Rahul Narwekar says he was victimised by Shiv Sena, defects to NCP
13. Shiv Sena leader Rahul Narwekar joins NCP, gets ticket from Maval
14. My Neta
15. "Independent Corporator Joins BJP In Mumbai". 31 January 2017.
16. "Here's all you need to know about Rahul Narvekar, Maharashtra Assembly's newly elected Speaker". The Economic Times. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
17. "Who is Rahul Narwekar? BJP Leader Who Became Maharashtra Speaker After Shiv Sena Split". ABP Live. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
18. "Who is Rahul Narwekar?". The Indian Express. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
19. "Who is Rahul Narwekar, newly elected Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly". India Today. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
20. "Supreme Court extends deadline for Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide disqualification pleas against NCP breakaway MLAs to February 15". The Hindu. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
21. https://results.eci.gov.in/ResultAcGenNov2024/ConstituencywiseS13187.htm