Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar appointed as Leader of Opposition in Assembly

Mumbai, July 4: Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar was on Monday appointed as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly.

NCP Legislative party leader Jayant Patil had proposed Ajit Pawar's name for LoP in Maharashtra Assembly which was approved by the Assembly, informs Assembly's Principal Secretary.

He succeeds BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, who was sworn in as Deputy CM on June 30.

Speaker Rahul Narvekar announced that Pawar will take over as Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, adding NCP has emerged as the single largest opposition party in the 288-member House.

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

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday won the floor test in the state Assembly on the last day of the two-day special session of the House.

In the 288-member House, 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence, while 99 voted against it. Three legislators abstained from voting, while Congress's Ashok Chavan and Vijay Wadettiwar were among those absent during the trust vote.

Speaker Rahul Narvekar announced that the trust vote was carried by a majority vote. After the death of a Shiv Sena MLA recently, the current strength of the Assembly is reduced to 287, thus the majority mark is 144.