Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday rejected Congress’ demand for the status of leader of Opposition (loP) to its group chief in lok Sabha. The Congress expressed “surprise” and “shock” over the “partisan” decision of the Speaker even as it maintained that its future course of action would be decided only after going through the order.
“I have gone by rules and tradition,” Mahajan told PTI on her decision not to recognise the Congress leader in lok Sabha as the leader of the Opposition. The Speaker’s decision has been conveyed in a letter to the Congress, which has 44 MPs in the lower house.Quoting rules, the Speaker has conveyed to the Congress that she was not in a position to give the party loP status because it fell short of the minimum 55 seats (10 per cent of the total lok Sabha strength) required for staking claim to the post. Mahajan is understood to have cited the precedents in 1980 and 1984 when there was no recognised loP in lok Sabha.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had written to Mahajan seeking the status of the loP to Mallikarjun Kharge, who is the party’s group leader in the House.The Speaker had also taken the opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who had said that since the Congress does not have the numbers its floor leader cannot be granted the status of loP. The loP in both the Houses of Parliament enjoy the status of a Cabinet Minister.
Congress is the second largest group in the lok Sabha (44 seats) after BJP’s 282 and has been insisting that it should be given the loP status.Kharge said he would consult Congress high command and the AICC legal cell before giving his opinion. “I do not know why they are insisting on (mandatory) 10 per cent seats. There are different acts like lokpal which require consultation with the leader of the Opposition,” Kharge said.
Former Union Minister ans spokesperson Anand Sharma said it is not a fair decision and proves the partisan decision of the Speaker. “No conventions can avoid the supremacy of Parliament which in a decision said that leader of the largest opposition party in the house will be designated the loP,” Sharma told The Pioneer.
AICC General Secretary Shakeel Ahmad said the party is very much surprised by the news of denial of loP post to Congress. “We are shocked by the Speaker’s decision in this regard when an enactment of 1977 later amended in 2003 clearly mentions that leader of the largest opposition will be granted the loP status. The future course will be decided once the order of Speaker is received,” Ahmad said.