Congress ineligible for LoP post, says A-G

If the Speaker acts on this opinion there will be no Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it was for 10 years from August 1979 to December 1989.

The battle between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the post of Leader of the Opposition is likely to intensify with Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, on a reference from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, holding that the Congress was not eligible for the status.

Mr. Rohatgi said the Congress lacked the requisite one-tenth strength of the Lok Sabha (55 in a House of 545). The Congress, which has 44 MPs, has been demanding the post on the ground that it would be undemocratic to deny the status to the largest opposition party. Mr. Rohatgi’s opinion is not binding on the Speaker.

The Congress-BJP spat over the issue is not merely political. The Leader of the Opposition, which is of the rank of a Cabinet Minister, is a member of panels that select candidates for key Constitutional posts.