The Shiv Sena (UBT) has staked claim to the Leader of Opposition (LoP) post in the Maharashtra assembly and nominated MLA Bhaskar Jadhav for the post, the party chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday, reported the PTI.
A letter regarding the same was submitted to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.
“The Shiv Sena (UBT) has staked claim to the LoP post. We have given a letter to the speaker regarding this. We are confident that a decision will be taken considering democratic values,” Uddhav Thackeray said, according to the PTI.
Uddhav Thackeray insisted the decision on the issue should be taken before the Maharashtra Budget Session 2025 ends on March 26.
Bhaskar Jadhav, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA from Guhagar in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, was in the undivided Shiv Sena in the 1990s. He then moved to the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) before re-joining the Shiv Sena in 2019.
Uddhav Thackeray made it clear that the post will not be rotational, as per the PTI.
The LoP post is equivalent to a cabinet minister — if it is bagged by his party, which has the highest number of MLAs (20) among the opposition outfits.
On Monday, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) had demanded that the LoP post be shared on a rotational basis among the three constituents of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has 20 MLAs in the lower house, followed by the Congress (16) and NCP (SP) (10).
As per precedents, an opposition party needs 10 per cent of the total seats (which comes to 28) to stake claim to the LoP post in the 288-member assembly.
“But there is no such law (stipulating 10 per cent of total seats) or provision in the Constitution,” Bhaskar Jadhav had claimed on Monday, as per the PTI.
The NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad had on Monday demanded that the LoP post be rotated among his outfit, the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) — all MVA constituents — for 18 months each, according to the PTI.
Jitendra Awhad had argued that the three parties holding the post by turn will help each constituent represent itself in the state assembly, whose budget session started in Mumbai on Monday.
(with PTI inputs)
