Shiv Sena (UBT) will stake claim for Leader of Opposition post in Maharashtra Assembly: Raut

Mumbai. Shiv Sena (Ubatha) leader Sanjay Raut said that his party will stake claim for the post of Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly. He argued that in the past this post was given to opposition parties, even when they did not win 10 percent of the seats. Raut said that the combined total number of members of opposition parties in the 288-member state assembly is around 50. The budget session of the Maharashtra Assembly will be held between March 3 and 26. Raut claimed, “Shiv Sena (Ubatha) will stake claim for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. Even though the number of MLAs is less, there is no law or provision in the Constitution that says that the House should function without a leader of the opposition. Shiv Sena (Ubatha) has 20 MLAs.” Recently, Congress leaders had said that if Shiv Sena claims the post of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, then it will also demand the same post in the Legislative Council. Currently, Shiv Sena’s Ambadas Danve is the leader of opposition in the Legislative Council but his term as MLC will end in August this year. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance comprises Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (Uttar Pradesh), Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) and Congress. Shiv Sena (Uttar Pradesh) has 20 MLAs in the Assembly, while Congress has 16 and NCP (SP) has 10 members. Raut said, “Hopefully the speaker will accept our demand for the post of leader of opposition.” Asked why no top Shiv Sena (Uttar Pradesh) leader went to the Prayagraj Mahakumbh, Raut said the party followed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in this matter. The Rajya Sabha member said, “I did not see Mohan Bhagwat going to Mahakumbh and taking a dip in the Ganga river. We were waiting for him (Bhagwat) to go to Mahakumbh and we would have followed him. No senior RSS functionary went to the Maha Kumbh. We had plans to go there, but we did not see any of them going there. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and ruling Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde had attacked Uddhav Thackeray for not attending the Maha Kumbh.