New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Wednesday said she would rule on whether there will be a Leader of Opposition by this weekend.
The Congress party, which was dethroned from power by rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the May general elections, has been demanding the post despite failing to win the required minimum 10 per cent seats in the new Lok Sabha.
Mahajan said she would take the final decision after reading the Attorney General’s letter and studying the rules. She said she would announce her decision in “two to four days”.
The Speaker had sought Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi’s opinion following the Congress party demand to announce its leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge as new Leader of Opposition.
The party had even threatened to move to the court if it was denied the post.
“I will see all the rules and also the letter of Attorney General. I have to see what’s there and what is not. Speaker cannot do anything... I have to go by the rules,” Mahajan said.
According to the rules, a party must have at least 10 per cent members in the House to qualify as the main opposition party and its leader then automatically becomes Leader of Opposition.
The Congress party, which won 44 seats as against the required 55, has been arguing that it should get the post as it won 60 seats along with its pre-poll allies.
It has also been saying that since Leader of Opposition has a role in the panel that selects heads of various constitutional bodies, it should not be left vacant.
Attorney General Rohtagi’s opinion on the issue holds no promise for the Congress party. According to reports, Rohtagi in his letter to the Speaker has pointed out that neither parliamentary tradition nor the law backs the Congress party’s demand.
Rohtagi is understood to have quoted the first Lok Sabha Speaker G.V. Mavlankar that the Leader of Opposition must belong to a party which has enough MPs to form a quorum of the House, which happens to be 10 per cent of the total members.
Rohtagi is also believed to have said that there was no need to change rules, which have been followed for nearly 60 years.
There have been occasions when there was no Leader of Opposition in the first four Lok Sabha as no single party won 10 per cent seats.
“The first time the Lok Sabha had a Leader of Opposition was in 1969. There was none in 1980 or in 1984,” Mahajan said, adding that the Speaker has to go by precedents and rules and has no discretion in this regard.
It is unlikely that the Congress party would now knock on the doors of the court if the Speaker rules against it in view of the Attorney General’s opinion which is normally respected even by the Supreme Court.
