The Congress has virtually lost the Opposition status in the Odisha legislative Assembly as number of its MlA dipped to 14, one short of the required 15, following disqualification of Sundargarh MlA Jogesh Singh by the Orissa High Court on Tuesday.
While the Congress had 16 MlAs, the death of its Bijepur MlA and Singh’s disqualification has brought the number to 14.
A party needs to have a minimum of 10 per cent of the total MlAs to get Opposition in the State Assembly.
The High Court disqualified Singh’s Assembly membership on the grounds that he had submitted fake ST caste certificates while filing nomination for the 2014 Assembly Elections.
“For the Opposition party tag, a political party needs one-tenth of the total seats of the House. As per the rule, the Congress needs 15 members to become the Opposition party.
After disqualification of Jogesh, the Congress’ strength has come down to 14,” Opposition leader Narasingha Mishra told reporters.
He, however, stated that the Congress would continue to have the Opposition party status if the Supreme Court stays the High Court order against Singh’s election.Meanwhile, Government Chief Whip Amar Prasad Satpathy said, “The matter will be looked into and an appropriate step will be taken soon.”