Deputy chairman election in Council today

Mumbai: The twin deadlock over the appointment of Vijay Wadettiwar as Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and the election for the post of deputy chairman in the Legislative Council is likely to be resolved on Monday.

The election for the post of deputy chairman would be held in the second half of the session on Monday.

A senior Congress leader said that a section within the party thinks that it should name a candidate for deputy chairmanship in the Council. However, the leader added that a final decision on the matter would be taken on Monday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already promised the deputy chairman position to its ally, the Shiv Sena.  The Sena is likely to propose D. Neelam Gorhe’s name for deputy chairmanship in the Council.

In the 78-member Legislative Council, the BJP has 23 members, while its ally Shiv Sena has 12 MLCs. The main Opposition parties, namely NCP and the Congress, have 17 and 16 legislators respectively.

Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP) has one MLC. The RSP has been supporting the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance since 2014. There are six Independents, of which four are with the ruling alliance. Two Independents and one MLC each from Lokbharati, Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) and People’s Republic Party (PRP) support the Opposition.

Meanwhile, after the resignation of Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and his switch to the BJP, the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Assembly has been vacant.

A fortnight ago, Congress had appointed Vijay Wadettiwar as its group leader in the Assembly. However, the Devendra Fadnavis-led government delayed the announcement.