NCP (SP) wants Assembly LoP post to be rotational with Congress, Sena (UBT)

Mumbai: Though Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies are yet to formally stake claim to the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra assembly, a key constituent on Monday demanded that the cabinet-level position be rotated among all three parties of the bloc.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Jitendra Awhad demanded that the LoP post be rotated among his outfit, the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) -- all MVA constituents -- for 18 months each.

Awhad 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.

"We are saying that the LoP post should be rotated among three parties for 18 months each so that every party gets a chance to represent in the state assembly. We have to stick around together as a formidable opposition. This is NCP (SP)'s stand," the former state minister told PTI.

Senior leaders of the three parties will sit together and take a call on this, he asserted.

The MLA from Thane city, however, stressed that the first chance to occupy the post should be given to the Sena (UBT), which has the highest number of seats (20) among the opposition parties in the 288-member assembly.

Last week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said his party will stake claim to the LoP post in the assembly.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has 20 MLAs in the lower house, followed by the Congress (16) and NCP (SP) (10). So far, none of them has formally staked claim to the post.

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.

"But there is no such law (stipulating 10 per cent of total seats) or provision in the Constitution," claimed Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav. PTI PR "But there is no such law or provision stated in the Constitution," said Shiv Sena UBT MLA Bhaskar Jadhav.