It’s been more than a month and Maharashtra does not have a Leader of Opposition in the state legislative assembly. Leader of Opposition in the state legislative council Ambadas Danve's term got over when the monsoon session of the state legislature came to end.
After the massive victory of saffron alliance in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, there are only 46 opposition legislators in the state legislative assembly.
Of them, Shiv Sena (UBT) has 20, NCP Sharadchandra Pawar has 10 and the Congress 16. None of these parties have the required strength to stake claim for the post of Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly.
They have sent several petitions to the speaker, Rahul Narvekar, explaining that there should be a Leader of Opposition in the lower house as these parties fought elections as one coalition – Maha Vikas Aghadi – and hence they have the right to have the post, which is equal to a cabinet minister rank.
So far, neither the speaker nor Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have agreed to their demand. Hence Danve, who was the Leader of Opposition in state legislative council was seen as the Leader of Opposition. At the end of the monsoon session, he retired thus vacating the post of Leader of Opposition of the upper house.
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For a state which has had a long list of eminent Leaders of Opposition in the past, there being no LoP is a rarity.
While Shiv Sena (UBT) has staked claim for Leader of Opposition in the lower house on the basis of being the opposition party with largest number of legislators, it is Congress which is interested in staking claim for the LoP post in upper house. A delegation of Congress leaders met chairperson of the upper house, Prof Ram Shinde, and formally urged him to appoint a LoP from the party benches.
Congress leaders also met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Fadnavis. The delegation urged the CM that the LoP for both the houses should be appointed at the earliest as it helps in legislative functioning. They also met the speaker of the legislative assembly, Rahul Narvekar.
Satej Patil, the Congress bigwig from Kolhapur, has been named the candidate for the LoP’s post in the state legislative council, while Bhaskar Jadhav’s name has been suggested for the LoP’s post in the legislative assembly, from Shiv Sena (UBT).