Vijay Wadettiwar to be new opposition leader

Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar would be the new leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Wadettiwar hails from the Gadchiroli-Chandrapur area of Vidarbha region of the state.

Wadettiwar would be the third leader of Opposition in the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

The post fell vacant when Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil resigned and quit the Congress. The first leader of Opposition was Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena. However, when Shinde's party joined the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, Vikhe-Patil took over.

Last week, the Congress approved the appointment of Balasaheb Thorat, the bete noire of Vikhe-Patil as the leader of the Congress legislature party, Wadettiwar as the leader of Congress in the House and Naseem Khan as the deputy leader.

Wadettiwar had served as a minister in the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front government. He currently represents the Brahmapuri constituency.

A few names were discussed in the Opposition parties meeting on the eve of the monsoon session - and there was consensus on name of Wadettiwar.

Later, Opposition leaders called on speaker Haribhau Bagade and formally gave a letter proposing Wadettiwar's name as the leader of Opposition.