Maharashtra state Congress president Balasaheb Thorat has been elected as the party’s legislature wing leader, the Congress said on Tuesday.
AICC general secretary in-charge for Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge made the announcement at a meeting of the party MLAs.
Kharge while speaking to the MLAs said, “The Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) has approved the name of Balasaheb Thorat as the Congress Legislature Party leader in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.”
An eight-term MLA, Thorat heads the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.
The Congress has tied-up with the NCP and Shiv Sena to form government in Maharashtra calling the alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that the floor test for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prove his majority in the Maharashtra Assembly be conducted on Wednesday.
It also directed Governor Koshyari to ensure that all elected members of the House are sworn in on Wednesday itself.
The apex court also said that the entire proceedings have to be telecast live. Voting in the Assembly shall not be on the basis of secret ballot, it said.
Shiv Sena has already named Eknath Shinde as its legislature party chief and the Nationalist Congress Party has appointed state party chief Jayant Patil as its legislature party leader.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi had on Monday staked claim to form the government and in the evening publicly paraded their 162 MLAs challenging the claims of the Bharatiya Janata Party and NCP rebel Ajit Pawar’s support of 171 legislators.