Devendra Fadnavis appointed as leader of opposition in Maharashtra assembly

Mumbai, Dec 01: Former chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis was on Sunday appointed as the leader of opposition in the Maharashtra assembly.

The newly appointed speaker of the House, Senior Congress MLA Nana Patole made the announcement. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and senior leaders of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress congratulated Fadnavis.

Fadnavis, 49, had resigned on Tuesday, three days after taking oath as chief minister. His resignation came a day before a trust vote ordered by the Supreme Court.

Fadnavis' plan to prove a majority in the 288-member assembly unravelled after NCP's Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as deputy CM, quit.

The resignation of Fadnavis paved the way for the formation of a government by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, an alliance of Sena, NCP and Congress. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was sworn-in as CM on Saturday in Mumbai's Shivaji Park.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government passed the floor test in the state Assembly on Saturday. Altogether 169 MLAs voted in favour of the motion of confidence after the BJP, which has 105 MLAs, staged a walkout before the headcount began in the 288-member House.

Patole's election has given Vidarbha region the prestigious post of speaker for the first time in the last two decades.