Congress names Vijay Wadettiwar as Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra. (FILE)
The Congress party has named Vijay Wadettiwar as its Leader of Opposition (LOP) in the Maharashtra Assembly.
Wadettiwar on Tuesday went to the Vidhan Bhavan to meet Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar and gave him the letter of his appointment to him.
The position had been left vacant after Ajit Pawar, the previous LoP, switched sides to join the Shinde-Fadnavis government on July 2, taking along a majority of party MLAs.
"I was an opposition leader before as well. The high command has trust in me. That is why they have given me the responsibility. I will bring the change," Wadettiwar said.
Taking a dig at the BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena "triple engine" government in Maharashtra, he said, "It will take more fuel if you add more engines."
Reacting to the development, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Balasaheb Thorat said, "Vijay Wadettiwar is our senior leader. Hence, his name has been proposed for the post of opposition leader."
Speaking highly about Wadettiwar, Balasaheb Thorat said, "He has the potential of taking the ruling alliance heads on. Also, he has the ability to unite the party organisation."
"Our state president Nana Patole is in Delhi today, hence, he could not be present. There are no issues with the appointment of the opposition leader as it has been conveyed by our high command and decided unanimously," Thorat said.
Balasaheb Thorat said that the Congress has requested the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) to withdraw their letter submitted to claim the position of the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.
"We have also requested NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) to withdraw their letter submitted for the Leader of Opposition. Jayant Patil, state president of NCP has assured us that they will soon be withdrawing their claim on the opposition leader," he said.
Earlier the Congress high command conveyed to Congress Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat to propose Wadettiwar's name for the LOP post.
The position of the Leader of Opposition fell vacant when Ajit Pawar joined hands with the BJP-Shinde government in Maharashtra along with some other prominent NCP leaders and got himself appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
Speaking about the LoP post, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had earlier said, "The party which has the maximum number of MLAs can demand the LoP post. As per my information, Congress has the maximum number currently and if they ask for it then it's valid demand."
The Congress has become the largest constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance ever since both its partners, NCP and the Shiv Sena split following rebellion among its ranks.
Last year, in a similar fashion akin to Ajit Pawar's move, Eknath Shinde joined hands with the BJP along with several Shiv Sena leaders, thereby bringing down the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in the state. Shinde was subsequently appointed the Chief Minister with Devendra Fadnavis, his deputy.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)