Shiv Sena (UBT) will stake a claim for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, said party leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday. 


The assembly will have its upcoming budget session from March 3 till March 26. 


Raut argued that in the past, the post of LoP was given to opposition parties even as theya had not won 10 per cent of the seats at that time. He further said that the combined strength of opposition parties in the 288-member assembly is nearly 50. 


"Shiv Sena (UBT) will stake claim to the post of LoP in the Vidhan Sabha. Even if the strength of MLAs is less, there is no law or provision in the Constitution which says that the House should function without the LoP. Shiv Sena (UBT) has the strength of 20," Raut claimed, reported PTI. 


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Congress To Stake Claim For LoP In Legislative Council


Earlier, the Congress said that if Shiv Sena (UBT) will stake claim to the post of LoP in the legislative assembly, it will demand the same post in the legislative council. 


At present, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Ambadas Danve is the Leader of Opposition in the legislative council but his tenure as an MLC will end in August this year.


"Hope the Speaker accepts our demand of getting the LoP's post," Raut said. 


Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) and Congress constitute the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra. The Sena (UBT) has 20 MLAs in the assembly, followed by the Congress (16) and NCP (SP) (10).


Raut was also asked about why no leaders of the Shiv Sena (UBT) went to the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, to which he said the party follows RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in this.


"I did not see Mohan Bhagwat going to the Maha Kumbh and taking a dip in the Ganga. We were waiting for him (Bhagwat) to go to the Maha Kumbh and we would have followed them. None of the senior RSS functionaries went to the Maha Kumbh. We had plans of doing so, but we did not see any of them going there," said the Rajya Sabha MP. 


Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has attacked Uddhav Thackeray for not attending the Maha Kumbh.