By IANS,
Mumbai: After putting up a better performance as compared to its ally Shiv Sena in the October 2009 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday bagged the coveted post of leader of opposition in the state assembly.
Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse was Tuesday named leader of opposition – after the Sena reluctantly gave up the claim to the post.
In the last elections, the BJP emerged as the senior partner for the first time in the past over 20 years, bagging 46 seats compared to 44 of the Sena.
The BJP-SS combine Tuesday submitted a joint letter to Pro-tem Speaker Ganpatrao Deshmukh proposing the name of Khadse, the BJP Legislature Party leader, as the new leader of opposition in the assembly.
Earlier, the Sena was keen on the post that carries a cabinet minister rank, which it had held in the past two terms.
The previous Sena leaders of opposition included Narayan Rane, who later defected to the Congress, and later Ramdas Kadam, who was defeated in the last elections.
This is for the first time in over two decades of the saffron alliance that the BJP has become a senior partner by virtue of the number of seats it has bagged and also secured the post of opposition leader.