Chaitanya.MarpakwarMumbai: With Sachin Ahir’s exit, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is likely to lose its claim over the leader of opposition’s (LoP) post in the legislative council. The Sena (UBT) is left with only 5 MLCs now, and the Congress too has 5 MLCs in the 78-member council.Political observers said it is unlikely that the council will get an LoP in the near future. The post in the council has been vacant since August 2025, when Shiv Sena (UBT)’s MLC Ambadas Danve retired. Danve has now been re-elected to the council, but a decision on the LoP hasn’t been taken yet. The state is now without an LoP in both houses of the legislature. This has happened for the first time in several years, senior officials said.An LoP in the legislative assembly hasn’t been appointed by assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar since Dec 2024, despite the Sena (UBT) giving its MLA Bhaskar Jadhav’s name, citing technical reasons as Sena (UBT) doesn’t have MLAs comprising 10% of the total strength of the assembly. Narwekar has maintained that the rules are being studied to see if the LoP’s post can be given if a party has less than 10% MLAs.A senior official said, “The LoP is a constitutional post, and he or she has cabinet rank. The LoP is a key functionary in the working of the legislature and is also part of several statutory committees. It is important to have one especially in these crucial times when the state is staring at a drought and has a debt burden.”