Gauri Narwekar (L), Makarand Narwekar, Rahul Narwekar and Harshita Narwekar.
Credit: X/@rahulnarwekar
Mumbai: Much on expected lines, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s family has bagged three seats in the financial capital of Mumbai - a development that further cements his position in the BJP.
Narwekar’s family has contested three seats from the A Ward of Mumbai, considered a prestigious ward in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Narwekar’s brother Makarand Narwekar won the elections from Ward No 226 which include parts of the elite Cuffe Parade area, while his sister-in-law Harshita Narwekar won from Ward No 225, which includes the iconic Fort area of Mumbai.
For Makarand, this is the third term while for Harshita, this is the second term.
Narwekar’s cousin Gauri Narwekar won from Ward No 227, which includes part of the Colaba area, one of the most happening places of the town.
Narwekar (49) comes from a political family and was elected Speaker for the second-time.
Narwekar is a lawyer by profession and has knowledge of Constitutional issues.
Narwekar, a two-time MLA from Colaba in Mumbai, is considered a confidante of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
His father, Suresh Narwekar, was a municipal councillor from Mumbai
Earlier, Narwekar was a member of the undivided Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which he left after the party denied him a ticket in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
He joined the undivided Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and contested the general election in 2019 from Maval, which he lost.
Thereafter, ahead of 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, he joined the BJP.
In 2023-24, during his first term as Speaker after the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, he presided over the disqualification and counter-disqualifications of the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP and NCP (SP).
In the run up to the BMC polls, opposition parties including Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), MNS and AAP have accused Narwekar of violating the model code of conduct, interfering in nomination process and tampering with CCTV footage linked to the exercise.