An all party meeting to discuss the Maharashtra assembly Speaker's election decided today that Congress leader Nana Patole -- the nominee of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance -- will be elected unopposed as BJP nominee Kisan Kathore is withdrawing nomination.

The Maharashtra assembly will vote at 11 am today to elect the Speaker a day after Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government sailed through the floor test amid protests led by the BJP's Devendra Fadnavis.

Congress's Nana Patole, who was earlier with the BJP, had earlier said that he expected to get elected unopposed. "They (the BJP) have the right in democracy (to field a candidate). But it has been a tradition in Maharashtra that Speaker is elected unopposed. We hope that tradition continues," the 56-year-old leader, who represents the Sakoli constituency in Vidarbha, had said.

BJP's Devendra Fadnavis in state assembly: "We had nominated Kisan Kathore for the post of assembly speaker, but in all-party meeting, other parties requested us and its has been a tradition that speaker is appointed unopposed, so we accepted the request&withdrew our candidate's name."