Pune (Maharashtra): Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar on Thursday said that the Congress will decide who will be the new Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and the selected one will be backed by the INDIA bloc constituents.
Talking to media persons, Pawar said, “In the INDIA bloc, Congress has bagged the highest number of seats and would be entitled to the LoP post.”
“Before the Lok Sabha session starting from June 24, the INDIA bloc will have a meeting and finalise the name for the LoP post. We shall endorse the decision,” said Pawar.
The NCP (SP) supremo added that the post of Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha is unlikely to go to the Opposition parties, contrary to speculation in political quarters.
“Last time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not honour the promise (to give Deputy Speaker post to the Opposition), though we shall discuss it this time,” declared Pawar.
Criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA 3.0 government at the Centre, Pawar said that the people’s faith in PM Modi has been shattered both in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country, and the masses do not believe in the ‘Modi Guarantees’ any longer.
Against this backdrop, the NCP (SP) supremo said that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP (SP) are poised to win at least 155 of the 288 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly elections due in October.
“In the recent LS elections, of the 48 seats, the MVA allies bagged 31 seats. If we calculate the six assembly segments that make up these parliamentary constituencies, then we have secured leads/wins in 155-plus Assembly seats in the LS polls. This indicates that the people’s mood is against the MahaYuti,” Pawar pointed out.
Scheduled to wind up his three-day tour of the drought-hit regions of Baramati on Thursday, Pawar revealed that after the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, he would embark on a tour of the state and in all the constituencies where the MVA allies will contest the Assembly elections.
–IANS