Maharashtra’s legislature will begin its Budget Session without Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in both the state assembly and legislative council, a first in the state’s history. The absence of LoPs has sparked concerns about the weakening of institutional checks and balances, especially with the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance holding a commanding majority.

Opposition parties, including the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), have called the development a ‘threat to democratic norms,’ arguing that the role of the opposition in holding the government accountable is being undermined. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut described the denial of the LoP post as a ‘blot on democracy.’

The vacancy has persisted since the 2024 Assembly elections, in which no single opposition party crossed the conventional 10 per cent strength required for recognition of the LoP. Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav accused the ruling coalition of deliberately weakening democratic processes by not facilitating LoP appointments in the assembly and council.

Jadhav said he had written to the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan administration seeking clarity on any rule or legislation governing the appointment of the LoP in the Assembly, but was informed there was no specific statutory provision. He also pointed out that in the past, parties with single-digit MLAs had been accorded the LoP post, whereas Shiv Sena (UBT), despite having 20 MLAs in the 288-member assembly, has been denied the position.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the decision to appoint LoPs is the prerogative of the speaker of the assembly and chairman of the council. He added, ‘I cannot comment over it.’

The situation in the 78-member legislative council has been further complicated by the resignation of Congress MLC Pradnya Satav in December last year. Her exit effectively dashed the party’s hopes of staking claim to the LoP post in the Upper House.

Satav, widow of late Congress MP Rajeev Satav, resigned on December 18 last year before formally joining the BJP in the presence of CM Fadnavis. Her defection came a year after the Mahayuti alliance’s sweeping victory in the 2024 assembly elections.

Prior to her exit, the Congress had eight members in the Council, just meeting the 10 per cent threshold required to claim the LoP post. The party had nominated senior leader Satej Patil for the role. However, Satav’s resignation reduced the party’s strength to seven, rendering its claim untenable.

Former Congress state president Nana Patole alleged that inducements and promises of positions were being used to engineer defections and destabilise opposition parties. He called Satav’s switch part of a broader ‘Operation Lotus’ strategy by the ruling alliance.

Satav, who had been renominated to the council in July 2024 for a six-year term ending in 2030, cited the Mahayuti government’s development agenda under Fadnavis as her reason for joining the BJP.