Mumbai: Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray has recommended the name of party legislator Bhaskar Jadhav’s name for the post of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Thackeray in a letter addressed to the state Assembly Speaker Rajesh Narwekar on March 3 has urged him to accept his recommendation. With this, the Thackeray camp has put the ball in the Speaker’s court. Thackeray has mentioned in a letter the resolution passed unanimously by the Shiv Sena UBT legislators held on February 28 in his Matoshree residence.
“This house authorises Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray to finalise the name for the leader of opposition in the state assembly. The name recommended by Thackeray will be acceptable to use,” reads the resolution.
Jadhav was the front runner for the party’s choice for the post of leader of opposition, especially after former minister and legislator Aaditya Thackeray expressed his unwillingness to take up the job.
Thackeray chose to recommend Jadhav’s name for LoP’s post after the Legislative Assembly Secretariat clarified that there is no rule which makes it binding that the party should have at least 10 percent of the total strength in the state assembly to qualify for the post.
The Maharashtra Assembly has 288 MLAs — 10 per cent of the total strength works to 28.8 (29). None of the Opposition parties alone have 29 MLAs at present. Shiv Sena UBT has a strength of 20 legislators.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said that in many states even parties with four or five members have got the post of Leader of the Opposition to maintain the spirit of democracy.
“Here, our combined strength of opposition is over 50. Therefore, it is not difficult to become the opposition leader of Shiv Sena UBT,” he added.
Jadhav started his political career as a member of the Ratnagiri Zilla Parishad in 1992 and later he was elected to the state assembly as the Shiv Sena candidate in 1995. He was re-elected again in the 1999 assembly election.
Jadhav later left Shiv Sena and joined the NCP. He was nominated in the state legislative council in 2006.
In the 2009 Assembly election, Jadhav was elected to the state assembly and made minister of state. In 2013, he became the state NCP chief. Jadhav was inducted into the state cabinet and made a cabinet minister during June 2013 and September 2014. Jadhav was elected to the state assembly in 2014 as NCP nominee and later he rejoined Shiv Sena and won the assembly election held in 2019. After the split in Shiv Sena, he stayed with Thackeray camp and he got reelected in the 2024 assembly election.
(IANS)
