In a first for Maharashtra, Budget Session to be held without LoPs in either House

Mumbai: The Budget Session of the Maharashtra legislature beginning Monday will be the first in the state's history without a Leader of Opposition (LoP) in both the assembly and the council.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has termed the development as a "threat to democratic norms", arguing that the absence of LoPs in both Houses weakens institutional checks and balances at a time when the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti enjoys a commanding majority.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday described the denial of the LoP post as a "blot on democracy", claiming the constitutional role of the Opposition to hold the government accountable was being undermined.

The vacancy has persisted since the 2024 assembly elections, in which no single opposition party crossed the conventional 10 per cent strength required for recognition of the LoP.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav accused the ruling coalition of arrogance and deliberately weakening democratic processes by not facilitating LoP appointments in either House.

Jadhav said he had written to and followed up with the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan administration seeking clarity on any rule or legislation governing the appointment of the LoP in the assembly, but was informed there was no specific statutory provision.

He also pointed out that in the past, parties with single-digit MLAs had been accorded the LoP post, whereas Shiv Sena (UBT), despite having 20 MLAs in the 288-member assembly, has been denied the position.

When asked about it, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters, "This decision is the prerogative of the speaker of the assembly and chairman of the council. I cannot comment on it." The situation in the 78-member legislative council has been further complicated by the resignation of Congress MLC Pradnya Satav in December last year, which dashed the party's hopes of staking a claim to the LoP post in the Upper House.

Pradnya Satav, the widow of late Congress MP Rajeev Satav, resigned on December 18 last year, before formally joining the BJP in the presence of CM Fadnavis. Her switch came a year after the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance's sweeping victory in the 2024 assembly elections.

Before her exit, the Congress had eight members in the council, just meeting the 10 per cent threshold required to claim the LoP post. The party had nominated senior leader Satej Patil for the role. However, her resignation reduced the party's strength to seven, rendering its claim untenable.

Former state Congress president Nana Patole alleged that inducements and promises of positions were being used to engineer defections and destabilise Opposition parties, calling Pradnya Satav's switch part of a broader "Operation Lotus" strategy by the ruling alliance.

Satav, who was renominated to the council in July 2024 for a six-year term ending in 2030, cited the Mahayuti government's development agenda under Fadnavis as her reason for joining the BJP.