As the Shiv Sena gets ready to jump from the Opposition Benches to the ruling side in the Maharashtra Assembly, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday laid claim to the post of Leader of the Opposition, though the former has one member more than the latter.
The Congress has 42 and the NCP 41 in the 288-member House..
Once the Sena joins the Devendra Fadnavis Government, which is likely in a day or two, the Congress would be the single largest Opposition party in the House.
However, the NCP has taken the view that since five members of the Congress stand suspended, the strength of the Congress is down to 37 and hence, it is the single largest Opposition party.
The NCP has also claimed that it had a pre-poll alliance with Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), which has won two seats and few independents, making it a bigger party in the assembly than the Congress.
Trust vote melee
Five members of the Congress were suspended in the melee that ensued hours after the Speaker announced that the Fadnavis Government has won the trust vote by a voice vote.
In protest against the decision, the Congress MLAs had attempted to stop Governor C. Vidyyasagar Rao from entering the assembly premises to address a joint session of the Assembly and the Council. The Speaker had later suspended five members of the Congress on the ground that they had misbehaved with the Governor.
In the October assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as as the single largest party with 122 MLAs, while the Sena ended with a tally of 63 members. The Congress and the NCP won 42 and 41 seats respectively.
Since there was no agreement between the BJP and the Sena on the terms of the latter's participation in the Government, the Sena had laid claim for the post of Leader of the Opposition and the Speaker appointed Sena’s Eknath Shinde for the post.
Now, with the Sena set to join the Government, the equations in the Assembly stand altered, leading to the Sena vacating the Opposition Benches.
“Our pre-poll alliance with the BVA and support of two independents mean that we have more number of MLAs than Congress’ 42. Hence, it is our demand that we should be given the post,” said Nawab Malik, chief spokesperson of the NCP.
Mr. Malik said that his party will stake claim to the Opposition Leader’s post in the State Council as well.
However, the Congress is in no mood to oblige the NCP. “They are still the members of the Assembly. Our party’s strength is more than that of the NCP. We are sure that the Opposition Leader will be from our party,” said Manikrao Thakre, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president.
