Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar today said the Congress will decide on the appointment on the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha as the Congress has the highest number of seats among the INDIA bloc parties in the lower house of Parliament.
Talking to media persons in Maharashtra, Pawar said, ‘Earlier, we had agreed that the position would go to the party with the highest seats. Today, the Congress has the maximum seats (among opposition parties) in the Lok Sabha, so they will decide who should hold the position’. Pawar said before the Lok Sabha session starting from June 24, the INDIA bloc will have a meeting and finalise the name for the LoP post.
Asked if efforts will be made to have the Lok Sabha's deputy speaker from the opposition, Pawar claimed this ‘rule’ was not followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his last government. He added that this issue will be discussed but I don't think any meaningful result will come out of it. On the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) success in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, Pawar said people have lost faith in PM Modi in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country, and the masses do not believe in the 'Modi Guarantees' any longer.
The MVA, which includes the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray and NCP (SP), bagged 30 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. While, the ruling Mahayuti, which includes the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP headed by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, got 17 seats.