Shiv Sena (UBT) stakes claim to LoP post ahead of Maharashtra Assembly Budget session
The Hindu
Shiv Sena stakes claim to LoP position in Maharashtra Assembly ahead of State Budget, allies announce party responsibilities.
Shiv Sena (UBT) staked claim to the position of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly on Saturday (March 1, 2025), ahead of the State Budget set to begin on Monday (March 3, 2025). The party is the largest in the Opposition, but only holds 20 seats in the 288-member Assembly, after the ruling BJP-led alliance swept the State election last year.
In the past decade, other parties that had less than 10% of the seat share in the Assembly have been given the LoP position, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, expressing his confidence that the Speaker would accept the party’s claim.
The names doing the rounds for the LoP position include senior party leaders Aaditya Thackeray, Bhaskar Jadhav, Sunil Prabhu, and Ajay Chaudhary, The Hindu has learnt from Shiv Sena (UBT) sources.
This comes a day after its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) and the Congress, announced internal division-wise responsibilities for their party members. The Congress has 16 MLAs in the State Assembly, while the NCP(SP) holds ten seats.
NCP (SP) Lok Sabha MP Amol Kolhe announced the party positions. “Division-wise responsibilities have been given to leaders. Vidarbha will be handled by Anil Deshmukh and Rajendra Shingane, while Marathwada will be handled by Rajesh Tope and Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar,” he said. Shashikant Shinde and Harshvardhan Patil were given responsibility for western Maharashtra, while the Konkan region was given to Sunil Bhusara and Jitendra Awhad.
The new party appointees will tour the State and hold local meetings, said Mr. Kolhe, adding that rising power tariffs and the increase in crimes against women will feature among a host of problems that will be discussed at these meetings.
The Maharashtra Congress had also announced its party positions on Friday.
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