The former Chairman of the Legislative Council V.R. Sudarshan on Tuesday said the Congress should be recognised as the main Opposition in Parliament.
Congratulating the former Union Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge on having been appointed Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Sudarshan, who is also the spokesperson of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, said Mr. Kharge should also be given the status of Leader of the Opposition. It is still unclear whether the Congress, with its low tally of 44 seats, will get the Leader of the Opposition status.
However, Mr. Sudarshan said the Speaker had inherent powers to modify the Lok Sabha rules of procedure to recognise the party with the second highest tally as the main Opposition. “A strong Opposition party is essential in a democratic set-up.”
Urging the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to maintain good relations with all States, especially Karnataka, Mr. Sudarshan said: “During its previous tenure, the BJP-led NDA government had given step-motherly treatment to Karnataka. We do not want a repeat of this.”
He said Mr. Modi should soon convene a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC), inviting Chief Ministers of all States. This was essential to understand the individual State-level problems and initiate efforts to resolve them, he said.
He condoled the death of Union Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Gopinath Munde, who died in a road accident on Tuesday.
‘Honour for State’KPCC president G. Parameshwara also congratulated Mr. Kharge.
In a statement here on Monday, Dr. Parameshwara said Mr. Kharge, who has been elected MLA on nine occasions and as MP twice, apart from serving as Union Labour Minister and Railway Minister, would discharge his new responsibility astutely and efficiently. “It is an honour for Karnataka,” he said.
The Congress was facing a crisis and Mr. Kharge would accept the challenge and steer the party forward, Dr. Parameshwara said.
