New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahahan has rejected the Congress demand that its leader in the house Mallikarjun Kharge be accorded the status of leader of opposition (LoP), informed sources said yesterday.
The sources said said the speaker had gone “by the rules and precedents” in her decision and this was conveyed to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a letter. The speaker wrote the letter in response to a communication from the Congress.
The sources said that Mahajan, in the letter on August 14, conveyed that the status of leader of opposition cannot be given to the party. Mahajan is also believed to have cited precedents when there was no recognised leader of opposition in Lok Sabha since the main opposition party did not have the requisite numbers.
The sources said the Speaker had also based her decision on the advice of constitutional and legal experts. The Speaker had sought the opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who had held the Congress leader in the house cannot be recognised as leader of opposition as the party’s strength was 44 while one tenth of the total strength of the house was 55.
According to Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act, 1998, a recoginsed party in relation to the house of people (Lok Saba) means every party which has a strength of not less than 55 members in the house.
The Congress, with 44 members, is the second largest party in the Lok Sabha after Bharatiya Janata Party which won 282 seats in the general election. The Congress had written to Mahajan seeking the status of the leader of opposition for Kharge but the BJP-led government was not positively inclined towards the Congress demand.
IANS
