The newly elected 15th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly may function without the Leader of Opposition (LoP). As per the legislative rules, a party with 10 per cent of the 288 seats or 29 seats can claim the post.

Accordingly, either Shiv Sena(UBT) or Congress need to get 29 seats to be eligible for the post. However, the present trends show that the MVA parties may fall short.

As per the latest trends, Shiv Sena(UBT) was leading in 20 seats, Congress in 19 and NCP(SP) in 12 seats. This means neither Shiv Sena(UBT) nor Congress will be in a position to stake claim over the LoP post. The Leader of Opposition’s post cannot be bagged based on the combined strength of opposition parties, as per the rules.

This is probably the first time since the first Assembly came into existence in the state in 1960 that there will be no LoP. It will be a major embarrassment for the Maha Vikas Aghadi as none of its constituents will be able to get the post. This means that the seat next to the deputy speaker in the front row on the opposition benches will lay vacant in the newly elected state Assembly.

During the 14th Assembly, Ajit Pawar was appointed as the LoP after the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed. However, after Ajit Pawar joined the MahaYuti, the Congress legislator Vijay Wadettiwar became the LoP. It will be similar to the 16th Lok Sabha which did not have a Leader of Opposition. According to Parliament rules, the biggest Opposition party in the House has to have at least 10 per cent of the total strength of the Lok Sabha, or 55 seats, to be eligible for the post of Leader of Opposition.

No party had that number in the 16th Lok Sabha (June 2014 to February 2019). The Congress, with 44 MPs, emerged as the largest Opposition party, closely followed by J. Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, at 37. There was no LoP in the Lok Sabha during the Prime Ministerships of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi, when the Congress enjoyed a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, and the Opposition space had shrunk considerably.

–IANS

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Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Deputy Maharashtra Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is pitted against nephew and NCP-SP nominee Yugendra Pawar, in a bid to cheer up his supporters, declared that “MahaYuti yenar yenar yenar” (MahaYuti will come back to power). Pawar’s announcement was similar to what ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis said in the run-up to the 2019 assembly elections – ‘Mi Punha Yein’ (I will return).

Ajit Pawar, who is camping in Baramati during the Diwali festival, has been visiting villages and meeting the voters since early morning. He is seeking votes on the basis of a slew of development works carried out in Baramati and also a number of welfare and development schemes including Ladki Bahin Yojana implemented by the MahaYuti government. Ajit Pawar, who is not leaving any stone unturned for his victory, especially after his wife Sunetra Pawar lost to his estranged uncle Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule in the general elections from Baramati, at Zargarwadi village on Friday, claimed that he will emerge victorious on the strength of development of Baramati.

“I will win based on Baramati’s progress, which was possible due to a number of initiatives launched during my term. In order to benefit Baramati taluka more, no matter what happens tomorrow, the MahaYuti government will come back to power (yenar, yenar, yenar) and I will get a good position in the government,” he said amid thunderous applause from the people gathered for the meeting. Ajit Pawar, who deserted Sharad Pawar and joined BJP and Shiv Sena, dropped hints that voters would vote for MahaYuti in order to further increase the pace of development and get more Central funds. By declaring that MahaYuti will come back to power, his attempt was to appeal to the voters not to get carried away by the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s narrative and especially by NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar’s poll tactics, not only in Baramati, but also in the state.

Further, Ajit Pawar has stepped up his outreach with voters knowing that his mentor and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, cannot be underestimated in luring voters due to his political career of over five decades. Ajit Pawar, without naming Sharad Pawar, said: “Some had decided to elect Tai (Supriya) to the Lok Sabha and Dada (Ajit Pawar) to the legislative Assembly. However, I won’t say much about it. During the 2019 assembly elections, I was elected by 1,95,641 votes. Because of my election, I brought funds worth Rs 9,000 crore to Baramati.” He appealed to the voters to give him yet another chance to win with a good margin of votes in the Assembly elections slated for November 20. “I have come to you on the basis of my work. My request is… I have been doing your work for five years, now you support me. I am bound to do your work for the next five years,” said Ajit Pawar.

He told the party workers and people from Baramati that he will try to visit every village and interact with them. Ajit Pawar’s move to stay in Baramati during Diwali festival is important as Sharad Pawar is also camping there and meeting people. The senior Pawar addressed several small meetings on Thursday and Friday and tomorrow he will meet a stream of people who will come to Baramati to wish him on the occasion of Diwali Padwa. On November 5, Sharad Pawar will hold meetings at Shirsuphal, Supe, Morgaon and Someshwar in Baramati taluka and on the same day he also interact with businessmen, lawyers and doctors.

–IANS

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NCP national president and Deputy Maharashtra Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday met Home Minister Amit Shah here at the airport before he left for Delhi. During the meeting, he discussed the MahaYuti’s electoral strategy for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were also present during the meeting.

Amit Shah is believed to have asked them to strengthen the coordination among the MahaYuti’s partners further, which would have paved the way for the transfer of votes among each other.

Besides, the Home Minister advised the MahaYuti’s partners to reach out to the voters on the development plank while flagging off a slew of welfare and development schemes during the assembly poll campaign.

He also asked them to counter the opposition’s fake narratives strongly.

Although Shinde and Fadnavis were present at the airport on Sunday during Amit Shah’s arrival, Ajit Pawar’s absence was conspicuous, leading to a buzz in state political circles.

Despite media reports about his absence, Pawar remained silent. However, his party legislator Amol Mitkari said: “Yesterday, Ajit Pawar was in Baramati due to his prior engagements.

Today, he arrived in Mumbai and met Home Minister Amit Shah at the airport.

Why should Ajit Pawar go to Sagar bungalow (the official residence of Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis)? He will go there if there is a MahaYuti meeting,” he added.

Ajit Pawar’s meeting with Amit Shah came a day after the latter held a marathon meeting late Sunday night with top BJP leaders. They discussed the party’s poll strategy and MahaYuti’s plan to face the upcoming Assembly elections together at full strength.

State BJP leaders are quite adamant about getting at least 160 seats while leaving the balance of 128 to Shiv Sena, NCP and other smaller parties for the 288-member Assembly election likely to occur in the second week of November.

However, in the wake of its strike rate in the Lok Sabha election after winning 7 of the 15 seats it fought, the Eknath Shinde-led faction insists that the party should not settle for less than 100 seats.

For their part, NCP leaders are making a case for getting 90 seats as promised when they moved to join the MahaYuti in July 2023. Meanwhile, Amit Shah had a busy day on Monday as he went for Ganesh ‘darshan’ at Eknath Shinde’s official residence, Varsha.

Thereafter, he visited Devendra Fadnavis’ official residence, Sagar, and also had a darshan of Ganapati. Amit Shah and his wife also visited the famous Lalbaugcha Raja to seek blessings, and later he visited Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav at Bandra. The Home Minister eventually left for Delhi.

This story is based on an IANS wire feed. 

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The post Ajit Pawar Meets HM Amit Shah, Discusses MahaYuti’s Assembly Polls Strategy appeared first on The Commune.

In more trouble for the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (MVA) in Maharashtra which is now being called the “Maha Vasooli” government, former Mumbai Police Crime Branch officer Sachin Vaze has accused former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Transport Minister Anil Parab of putting pressure on him to extort money from the contractors of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), illegal tobacco factories and bars in the city.

Vaze’s letter, which is now out in the open, has sent shockwaves not only within the Nationalist Congress Party-Congress-Shiv Sena government but also the entire country.

Shocking allegations made by suspended cop #SachinVaze in a letter reportedly written by him. It alleges that Anil Deshmukh demanded Rs 2 cr from him to get reinstated in police service & ordered to collect money from contractors & bars.Serious allegations against Anil Parab too. pic.twitter.com/uPD6jwCcnj

— Vallabh Ozarkar (@OzarkarVallabh) April 7, 2021

However, senior officials of the NIA remained tightlipped on the authenticity of Vaze’s letter.

In a handwritten letter to the Special NIA Court dated 3 April, Vaze claimed that NCP chief Sharad Pawar was against his reinstatement into Mumbai Police in 2020 after having been suspended for 16 years.

In the letter, Vaze, who was previously the chief of Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), said that Deshmukh had asked him to collect ₹3-3.5 lakh each from 1,650 bars and restaurants in Mumbai but he had refused.

Vaze also claimed that Maharashtra Transport Minister and Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab had asked him to extort money for him, and he had met the Minister at his official bungalow where Parab asked him to initiate primary talks to get ₹50 crore from Saifee Burhani Upliftment (SBUT) to close an enquiry. Vaze in his letter also mentions how Parab told him to collect ₹2 crore from contractors listed with the BMC.

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