Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar appointed as new Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly

Vijay Wadettiwar. File Pic

Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Thursday, reported the PTI.

Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar announced Wadettiwar's name on the post.

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The post of Leader of the Opposition was vacant for more than a month after senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs of the party joined the Eknath Shinde government on July 2.

Ajit Pawar held the position till he resigned from it on June 30.

After Wadettiwar was appointed to the post, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and the opposition leaders escorted the Congress leader to the seat of the leader of opposition.

Before taking him to the chair, Ajit Pawar also took him to the treasury benches amid laughter from both sides.

Wadettiwar, who represents the Bramhapuri assembly constituency in Chandrapur district of Vidarbha region, was the leader of opposition for four months in the past when Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who held the post then, resigned to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Ajit Pawar, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Narayan Rane held the LoP position when they quit to join the government in the past.

Incumbent CM Eknath Shinde was also the LoP for a month in 2014 before the Shiv Sena joined the Devendra Fadnavis government.

In his speech, CM Shinde took a dig at the Congress over the delay in naming the LoP.

The Congress had earlier named senior leader Vijay Wadettiwar as the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra assembly and submitted a letter to the Speaker.

The letter was given to speaker Rahul Narwekar by a delegation of Congress leaders comprising former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad and Wadettiwar on Tuesday, Chavan had tweeted.

An OBC leader, Wadettiwar hails from Vidarbha, once a stronghold of the Congress. He had served as Relief and Rehabilitation Minister in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government headed by Shiv Sena.

The development assumes significance as Congress' ally Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar group) had named Jitendra Awhad as the new LoP in the assembly following a split in the party due to Ajit Pawar's rebellion last month.

(with PTI inputs)