Ajit Pawar, former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and NCP leader, has been named the Leader of Opposition in state Assembly.

He succeeds BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, who was sworn in as Deputy CM on June 30.

New elected Speaker Rahul Narwekar announced that Pawar will take over as Leader of Opposition in the Assembly

He also said that the NCP has emerged as the single largest opposition party in the 288-member House.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde described Ajit Pawar as a mature politician and administrator.