Mumbai: Ending weeks of speculation and delay, the Congress party has appointed Vijay Wadettiwar as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly.
Wadettiwar, a senior leader from Vidarbha region, will replace Ajit Pawar. He represents Bramhapuri in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district and belongs to the OBC Kunbi community.
Confirming the development Tuesday, Congress insiders told ThePrint that the decision is being conveyed to the state unit by the high command in Delhi, and that senior leader Balasaheb Thorat will remain the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader.
“Wadettiwar’s name is officially announced within the party and the letter mentioning the decision will be given to the Speaker either tonight or tomorrow by Congress state chief Nana Patole,” a party source told ThePrint.
Wadettiwar also confirmed his elevation to ThePrint, but did not give further details.
He had earlier served as the LoP in June 2019 after Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil resigned from the Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the election that year.
The Congress, which is a part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), had been facing criticism for not announcing the LoP’s name during the ongoing Monsoon session of the assembly.
The LoP post was lying vacant after Ajit Pawar of the NCP defected to the BJP along with some of his MLAs, making the Congress the single largest party in the opposition with 45 MLAs.
The latest decision was taken by the Congress high command leadership in Delhi after it was given a few names from the second-rank leaders.
Speaking to ThePrint, Thorat said, “Wadettiwar is young, knowledgeable and a strong firebrand leader. That’s why he has been chosen to represent in the lower house.”
(Edited by Richa Mishra)