Shiv Sena in a letter to the chairman of the legislative council, Shivajirao Deshmukh, has demanded appointment of a Sena member to the post of leader of opposition in the house.
In yet another move that could create friction between them and their allies the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena has forwarded its claim to the post of leader of opposition in the legislative council. The post is currently being held by BJP’s Pandurang Phundkar.
Shiv Sena in a letter to the chairman of the legislative council, Shivajirao Deshmukh, has demanded appointment of a Sena member to the post of leader of opposition in the house.
Deshmukh is expected to take a decision on Sena’s demand in the budget session of the legislative council starting March 18.
Sena’s leader in legislative council Diwakar Raote confirmed the party’s demand for the leader of opposition’s post. “We have nine members in the house whereas the BJP has only eight. We have a natural right over the post of leader of opposition in the house,” Raote said.
The BJP, however, refuted Sena’s claim. “We have 11 not eight members in the house. We will bring this to the honourable chairman’s notice. I am sure he will be convinced,” Madhav Bhandari, BJP spokesperson, said. BJP’s 11 members include eight from their party and three associate members.
An expert in legislature proceedings, who did not wish to be named, said the Sena’s claim to the post cannot be accepted because of some technical reasons. “A member of legislative council cannot be an independent. After getting elected he has to declare which party he will represent. In this case, BJP has got support from three members — Ramnath Mote, Bhagwan Salunkhe and Gurumukh Jagwani, who were elected to the house as independents but later declared that they were with the BJP. Their support takes BJP’s tally to 11 — two more than the Sena,” the expert said.
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