The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) appointed Jitendra Awhad as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly after incumbent LoP Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde government as deputy chief minister on July 2.
The development comes amid a close aide of Mr. Pawar saying 36 out of 53 NCP MLAs have extended support to the new deputy CM and the numbers could go to 46 in a few days time.
When queried about such claims, Awhad said, “Wait till Sharad Pawar gets active fully, once he starts dialling numbers of his MLAs.” Lashing out at Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Mumra-Kalwa MLA from neighbouring Thane district said the former had routinely criticised Ajit Pawar’s role in the Maha Vikas Aghadi dispensation but was joining hands with him now.