Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Thursday. Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar announced Wadettiwar’s name on the post.
After Wadettiwar was appointed to the post, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and the opposition leaders escorted the Congress leader to the seat of the leader of opposition.
The post of Leader of the Opposition was vacant for more than a month after senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs of the party joined the Eknath Shinde government on July 2. Ajit Pawar held the position till he resigned from it on June 30.
Wadettiwar, who represents the Bramhapuri assembly constituency in Chandrapur district of Vidarbha region, was the leader of opposition for four months in the past when Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who held the post then, resigned to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).