BJP's Pravin Darekar new leader of opposition in Maha council

Pravin Darekar of the BJP was on Monday appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Cabinet minister Subhash Desai of the Shiv Sena was appointed as the leader of the legislative council by chairman Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar.

The winter session of the state legislature is currently underway in Nagpur.

Darekar was first elected to the Legislative Assembly on a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) ticket in 2009.

After his loss in the 2014 polls, Darekar switched his loyalties to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

After his appointment as the Leader of Opposition in the Upper House, Darekar thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP working president JP Nadda and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

In the previous legislature, the position of the Leader of Opposition in the Council was held by NCP's Dhananjay Munde.

Desai is a Sena veteran who had served three terms as an MLA in the past. Currently, he is an MLC.

A confidante of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Desai had served as Industries Minister in the previous NDA government in Maharashtra headed by the BJP.

He took oath as a Cabinet minister again on November 28 this year when Thackeray sworn in as chief minister of the alliance government comprising the Congress and the NCP.