MUMBAI: Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders on Sunday met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and sought the deputy speaker's post for one of the constituent parties in the opposition alliance.
The leaders told Fadnavis the opposition would allow the speaker of the assembly to be elected unopposed but wanted the ruling side to follow protocol and give them the deputy speaker's post.
The delegation was led by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Bhaskar Jadhav.
Speaking to reporters at the Vidhan Bhavan complex, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole reiterated that the post of deputy speaker should be given to the opposition.
"Maharashtra's legislative tradition suggests that the speaker should be elected unopposed and the deputy speaker's post must be given to the opposition. In the Delhi Assembly, despite the BJP having only three MLAs, the Aam Aadmi Party had granted it Leader of the Opposition post," he pointed out.
"A Maha Vikas Aghadi delegation met CM Fadnavis to discuss granting the Leader of Opposition post to the MVA. We hope the Mahayuti government will consider this proposal positively," Patole added.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi constitutes the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
None of the three parties could win 10 percent seats in the November 20 polls to claim the LoP post. The Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged victorious on 20 seats, the Congress on 16 and NCP (SP) on 10.
Later, the MVA leaders held a meeting to discuss the alliance's floor strategy in the legislature.