NCP's Ajit Pawar Is New Leader Of Opposition In Maharashtra Assembly

NCP legislative party leader Jayant Patil proposed Ajit Pawar's name for LoP post in Maharashtra Assembly on Monday.

NCP leader and former deputy CM Ajit Pawar

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NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar will be the new Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, PTI reported. NCP legislative party leader Jayant Patil proposed Ajit Pawar's name for LoP post in Maharashtra Assembly on Monday and it was approved by the Assembly. Ajit Pawar succeeds BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, who was sworn in as deputy CM on June 30.

Speaker Rahul Narvekar announced that Ajit Pawar would take over as Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly. NCP is the single largest opposition party in the 288-member House. 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde described Ajit Pawar as a mature politician and administrator.

Earlier in the day, CM Eknath Shinde won the floor test in the state Assembly. In the 288-member House, 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence, while 99 voted against it. After the floor test, Eknath Shinde informed the state Assembly that the government would reduce VAT on fuel soon.

READ | Maharashtra Floor Test: Eknath Shinde-Led Govt Wins Trust Vote By 164-99 Margin In Assembly

The trust vote for the Shinde-led government took place on the second day of the 2-day special session of the Assembly convened by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

On Sunday, BJP's Rahul Narwekar was elected the new Speaker, trouncing the MVA's Shiv Sena nominee Rajan Salvi with a comfortable margin.

Shinde was sworn in as CM on June 30, a day after Uddhav Thackeray quit the post. BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the deputy CM. 

Around 40 Sena MLAs led by Shinde had rebelled against the party leadership, which eventually resulted in the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government last week.