Mumbai: The selection of the Leader of the Opposition has emerged as a controversy point among the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly session, which is all set to begin on March 3. In line with parliamentary procedure, it is important to name the Leader of the Opposition ahead of the session. But the decision is stuck over an internal tussle between the alliance partners Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
So on February 28, Uddhav Thackeray called for a meeting with all party-elected legislators at “Matoshree” to discuss his party’s opposition leader candidate. The meeting suggested names such as Bhaskar Jadhav and Sunil Prabhu. However, they were unable to reach a complete agreement on the issue.
Of course, the only way to stake a claim to the Leader of the Opposition post would be through a coalition claim, which would qualify as a whole under the MVA’s title. But disagreements within the alliance have complicated the effort. It will get progressively difficult to obtain the post if each faction in the coalition demands to have its candidate.
This bitter tussle for the post has happened ahead of the municipal corporation and district council elections very soon in Maharashtra. The party that secures the Leader of the Opposition position is likely to gain a significant advantage in the upcoming local body elections. Sixteen large municipal corporations, like Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mira Bhayander, Vasai Virar, Solapur, Sambhajinagar, Nashik, and Pune, will specifically see the impact.
A party must hold a minimum of 10 percent of the Assembly seats—a minimum of 28 seats—to be eligible for the Leader of the Opposition position. However, none of the individual MVA parties—Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), or NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)—has crossed this mark yet. They must all agree to any one of them claiming the position, so none can say, “Yeah, I’m going to take the crown, and it will belong to me.” The last call regarding this issue is now with Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.
The MVA alliance bagged only 46 seats in the 2024 Assembly polls. Of the total, the Congress bagged 16 seats, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP got 10 seats, and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena was on top with 20 seats. Before that, it was Congress that held the Leader of the Opposition post following the collapse of the MVA government.
The ongoing tussle between the two parties continues to intensify the factionalism within the Maharashtra opposition bloc ahead of the Assembly session. The Leader of the Opposition would not only carry the burden of legislative duties but will also determine the mood for the forthcoming local body debates in the state.