Senior Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe on Monday became the first-ever woman to become the deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, as she was elected to the post unanimously after People’s Republican Party (PRP) legislator Jogendra Kawade withdrew from the fray.
Gorhe, who has become the 14th deputy chairperson of the upper House, replaces Congress MLC Manikrao Thakre. The post had been lying vacant ever since Thakre’s term expired on July 17, 2018.
The Opposition Congress had staked claim for the post once again and it had fielded Kawade belonging to its ally PRP. However, the Congress withdrew from the fray, after its strength in the 288-member State Assembly came down from 42 to 41 after the exit of the former leader of the Opposition and its erstwhile leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil who has now become a minister in the BJP-led Maharashtra government and the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance came condition linking the Council deputy chairperson’s post to that of the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly.
The ruling saffron alliance had made it clear to the Congress that in the event of the party insisting the deputy chairperson’s post, it would not give it the leader of the Opposition’s post in the State Assembly to its MLA Vijay N Wadettiwar. The Congress had no other go but accept the BJP-Sena combine’s condition.
Given that two elections were inter-linked, Gorhe was elected unanimously to the post on a day when Wadettiwar was appointed as the leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.
A doctor by profession, Gorhe has been elected to the State Legislative Council for three consecutive terms –2002, 2008 and 2014.
Sixty-four-year-old Gorhe has been the Shiv Sena’s spokesperson for the past nine years. She had filed her nomination for the deputy chairperson’s post in 2015, but later withdrew from the fray.
Born in the temple town of Pandharpur in Solapur district of western Maharashtra, Gorhe completed her higher education from Patkar College, Parle College and later Poddar Ayurvedic College before qualifying as a doctor from University Of Mumbai.
She practised as a doctor for 10 years from 1977, before joining active politics in 1987 with the Shiv Sena.
A soft-spoken and mild-mannered politician, Gorhe founded the Stree Adhar Kendra and Krantikari Mahila Sanghatana. She worked for the victims of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, and the devastating September 1993 Latur earthquake and the 2000 Gujarat earthquake.
She has been raising woman issues and has worked among the victims of various crimes across the state.
Gorhe, who hails from Pune, has authored nearly dozen books and is a columnist in regional publications.