Maharashtra: Congress claims LoP post in Council, says Sena UBT can nominate LoP in Assembly

With the Sena (UBT) staking claim for the Leader of Opposition (LoP) post in the Legislative Assembly, its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Congress said that Leader of Opposition (LoP) post in the Legislative Council belongs to the party.

Congress leader Nana Patole Monday said that since Sena UBT has the highest number of MLAs in the Lower House, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party can nominate its candidate for the post.

Patole, however, asserted that in the Legislative Council, where Congress holds a numerical advantage among opposition parties, the LoP post should go to party.

“In the Assembly, Sena (UBT) is the largest party within the MVA. So they should nominate their candidate for the LoP post. However, in the Council, we (Congress) have the majority among Opposition members. So the LoP there should be ours. There is nothing more to it,” Patole said.

The former state Congress chief’s remarks come amid uncertainty over whether the Speaker will grant the LoP post to the Opposition parties, as none of the three MVA allies, Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SP), individually meet the required numbers.

According to the ruling side, legislative rules mandate that a party must have at least 10 per cent of the total Assembly strength (29 MLAs out of 288) to qualify for the LoP post. At present, none of the opposition parties meet this threshold.

However, MVA leaders argue that no such rule explicitly exists in the legislative framework.

“In many states, parties with minimal numbers have held the LoP post to preserve democratic norms. Here, our combined opposition strength exceeds 50, so appointing an LoP should not be an issue,” said Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.

He further emphasised that since Sena (UBT) has the most MLAs within the Opposition bloc, their nominee should rightfully hold the post in the Assembly.