Bhawanipatna MLA Pradipta Kumar Naik will be Leader of Opposition in the 16th State Legislative Assembly as he has been declared as the BJP Legislature Party (BJPLP) Leader.
Naik was named as the BJPLP Leader by party national president Amit Shah on Monday night. The BJP MLAs, who failed to elect their leader at a meeting here on Sunday, had requested Shah to choose one for the post.
As the BJP this time has 23 members in the Assembly, the head of its legislature group is entitled to be designated as Leader of Opposition. In the last four Assemblies, the Congress Legislature Party Leaders had the recognition as Leaders of Opposition.
Notably, a party having one-tenth strength in the House is the claimant to the post of Leader of Opposition. In the last elections, the Congress MLAs’ number was reduced to nine.
As for the present Congress Legislature Party, Narasingha Mishra has been elected as its leader. Mishra was Leader of Opposition in the last Assembly.