Even as the Maharashtra legislative assembly has not had a leader of opposition for the last three sessions, opposition parties may be unable to appoint a chief whip under a new government resolution as the strength of each of them is below the 10 per cent threshold. A consolidated government resolution (GR) issued on Wednesday standardised the status, facilities and honorarium of chief whips and whips of political parties in the state legislature. The GR made it clear that parties must have at least 10 per cent of the total House strength to be eligible to appoint a chief whip and a whip who are entitled to state-funded facilities. The Speaker, meanwhile, has not yet accepted opposition parties' demand to appoint a leader of opposition. The strength of the Maharashtra assembly is 288. Of the ruling combine, the BJP has 132 MLAs, Shiv Sena 57 and the NCP 41. Of the opposition parties, Shiv Sena (UBT) has 20 members, the Congress 16 and NCP (SP) 10. Smaller parties and independents