Fadnavis faces heat as Maha Assembly session begins without Oppn leader

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday felt the heat as the opposition grilled him during the winter session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, which began in Nagpur on Monday, for the first time in history, without any Leader Of Opposition being named.

“The government should point out which rule of the legislature stipulates any condition that an opposition party must have 10 per cent members to be given the post of Leader of the Opposition. When the Aam Aadmi Party was in power in Delhi, the BJP got the post of Leader of the Opposition despite not having 10 per cent members.

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The BJP does not remember the conditions while taking positions, but when granting positions, they remember all rules and conditions, Bhaskar Jadhav said.

“It is a constitutional post. It is the arbitrariness of the government to keep it vacant and continue to work. We have given our proposal, they should appoint an opposition leader. But if they do not want to do it, then they must admit that they do not believe in the constitution and democracy,” Congress MLA and former opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held a press conference claiming that the Speaker of the respective houses have the full right to choose opposition leaders, and the government will accept whatever decision they take in this regard.

However, later Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader and Industries Minister Uday Samant said that no decision has been taken about the post of Leader of the Opposition, adding that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena had given a letter to its MLA Bhaskar Jadhav designating him the candidate for the post of Leader of the Opposition.

“Now there is a possibility that Jadhav’s name will be changed and Aaditya Thackeray’s name is being discussed for the post of Leader of the Opposition,” Industries Minister Uday Samant said.

Later Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said that “The post of opposition leader is given to a party which has ten percent of MLAs. When I was elected as the party’s group leader, I thought this was possible. But after that, I wrote a letter to the secretary asking him about the provision in the law regarding the election of the opposition leader.

“I demanded that he provide the information in writing. The secretariat informed me that there is no condition of 10 per cent membership for the post of opposition leader. The reality is that so many cases of corruption are coming out in which the government is involved that they are afraid of any Leader of Opposition raising these in the house”.

“We met everyone including the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to get the post of Leader of the Opposition. Uddhav Thackeray met the Assembly Speaker and demanded it. The post of Leader of the Opposition in both the Houses is vacant. If the Chief Minister decides, it is possible to designate the Leader of Opposition,” Bhaskar Jadhav said.

Answering a question about Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray becoming the Leader of Opposition, Bhaskar Jadhav said, “Aaditya Thackeray has already clarified that a letter in the name of Bhaskar Jadhav was given by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for the post of Leader of the Opposition in the assembly. But if the government is ready to give the post of Leader of the Opposition to Aaditya Thackeray, I am okay with it”.