Congress outsmarts NCP over Leader of Opposition in Assembly

Interestingly, Speaker also explained that the decision was taken after adequate consultations with legal experts and advocate general as both Congress and NCP had staked the claim for the post in state assembly.

The former deputy chief minister (NCP) Ajit Pawar had recommended the candidature of R R Patil for the post in the Assembly while Congress had forwarded the name of Vikhe-Patil. The NCP argued, “Apart from 41 MLAs it won, three MLAs from Peasant and Workers Party had extended support thus taking their overall tally to 44 MLAs.”

However, senior NCP leader Jayant Patil welcomed Vikhe-Patil instead of Ajit Pawar which raised many eyebrows. Vikhe-Patil and Pawar are political rivals and at loggerheads over district politics confined to Ahmednagar which is the home turf of Vikhe-Patil.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “Vikhe-Patil would play a constructive opposition role and also guide them on critical matters related to the larger welfare of Maharashtra.”

Later in the evening, government revoked the suspension against Congress MLAs who had misbehaved with the state governor C Vidyasagar Rao during the special session held in Mumbai in November 2014. Fadnavis said, “The government has taken the decision to revoke the suspension order against the Congress MLAs thus paving the way for them to attend the ongoing winter session in Nagpur.”

The names of the MLAs are Abdul sattar, Virendra Jagtap, Amar Kale,Jaikumar Gore and Rahul Bondre. The members were suspended for two years after a committee of all political parties gave their consent in November for misconduct against governor at Vidhan Bhawan premises in Mumbai.