Shiv Sena-UBT Worli MLA Aditya U. Thackeray, son of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, was elected SS-UBT Legislative Party Leader on Monday, said a top party leader.
In a similar manner, Bhaskar B. Jadhav, 7-time MLA from Guhagar, has been elected as the new SS-UBT Group Leader in the new Assembly, while Sunil W. Prabhu, 3-time MLA from Dindoshi, will be the new Chief Whip.
Speaking to media persons, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve said that Thackeray Jr. will be the head of the party in both houses of the legislature.
Jadhav said that the party is keen for the post of Leader of Opposition though the MVA alliance has limited numbers in the House, but they will keep all options open.
These key appointments were made after a party meeting chaired by SS-UBT President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray at his home in the presence of all newly elected party MLAs and other organisational leaders.
Speculations are rife that the SS-UBT MLAs will be "poached" like in the past. A grim Thackeray has indicated the party would take affidavits from all the legislators to prevent any future defections, like the rebellion that toppled Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Thackeray mid-way into its tenure in June 2022.
From the 288-member Legislative Assembly, in which its MVA allies suffered a rout, the MVA alliance managed to scrape through with a total of 48 seats, including the highest by SS-UBT (20), while the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar ended up with 16 and 10, respectively, while there is one MLA each of Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Peasants & Workers Party, and a couple of Independents are likely to support it.
The winning Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party alliance leaders have sent a scare in the Opposition as they declared that some MVA legislators were reportedly "in touch" with them, and results will be seen in the near future.
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