Congress leader Abdul Mannan is likely to become the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly after he was named the Congress Legislature Party leader today.
As Congress with 44 seats is the second largest party in the Assembly after Trinamool Congress, the mantle of the Opposition Leader will very likely fall on Mannan, a veteran party leader.
The CLP leader was chosen from among three leaders, Abdul Mannan, Abu Hena, and Manas Bhuniya, after 39 newly-elected Congress MLAs had submitted their individual preferences to senior leaders C P Joshi and Ambika Soni at a meeting on Friday.
Five other MLAs, who were absent in the meeting, were said to have made their choices known to the leadership over phone.
Mannan said he, along with Left Front MLAs, would demand that the post of deputy speaker be given to the Opposition.
Mannan said his party's alliance with the CPI(M) in West Bengal would stand, as people had wanted it.
"The alliance is here to stay. We have fought unitedly and will stay united. It is the people's aspiration that had brought us together," he said.
The two parties together would fight anti-people policies of Trinamool Congress government, he said.
