Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was on Sunday appointed the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, PTI reported. The announcement came hours after Congress leader Nana Patole was made Speaker of the state Assembly.
After assuming his new role, Patole made the announcement in the House, adding that the BJP would be the Opposition party.
Senior leaders of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, and Congress congratulated Fadnavis, Hindustan Times reported.
“Maharashtra has a tradition to elect Assembly Speaker unanimously and not by election,” Fadnavis tweeted following Patole’s appointment. “Pro tem Speaker Dilip Walse Patil ji requested for consensus and Maharashtra BJP agreed to this. Congratulated new Assembly Speaker Nana Patole in the House.”
The former chief minister also called for immediate assistance of Rs 25,000 per hectare to those farmers affected due to unseasonal rain in the Assembly. “Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray ji had already demanded this assistance while touring in affected areas,” he tweeted. “Now its time to fulfil that demand.”
The announcements came a day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray won the trust vote conducted by Pro tem Speaker Dilip Walse Patil. Thackeray was backed by Congress and NCP leaders. After 105 BJP legislators walked out of the 288-member Assembly in protest, 169 MLAs voted for Thackeray.
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