Maharashtra election results: first in six decades, no opposition leader, as main opposition party wins less than 10% of seats | India News – Times of India

MUMBAI: For the first time in six decades, there will be none leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly due to an insufficient number of opposition members.
According to the provisions of the Salaries and Allowances of Opposition Leaders in the State Legislature Act, an opposition leader can be nominated if the party has 10% of elected members, said former principal secretary (legislature) Anant Kalse.
“So in the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the opposition party can only appoint the leader of the opposition if it has 28 elected members,” Kalse told TOI. “As per the results of Saturday’s state assembly poll, the largest opposition party – Shiv Sena (UBT) – has only 21 members and cannot claim the post. The Congress, with 16 members, and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, with 10 members, are not even in the focus area,” he added.
“The rules and procedures regarding the requirement of LoP are quite extensive in the book Practice and Procedure of Parliament, by MN Kaul and SL Shakdher. There is no room for Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) to have a Leader of Opposition,” Kalse said.
As per the rules, the LoP post also cannot be secured based on the combined strength of the three parties even if they had an alliance before the elections, he added.
It was a long time ago, in 1962 and 1967, that there were no LoPs, since then Congress won elections by unprecedented margins. “With huge victories for the Congress, there was no room for the appointment of an LoP,” Kalse said.