Former Union Minister and Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan should follow the Salary and Allowances of Opposition Party Leader Act 1977 while taking a decision on the demand of the Congress to declare it the main opposition party in the Lok Sabha.
Addressing a press conference in Gulbarga city on Tuesday, Mr. Kharge said that the 1977 Act clearly stated that the single largest party among the opposition parties should be declared the main opposition party and its leader conferred the opposition leader status in the Lok Sabha. He said that the Act of parliament was superior to the rules and guidelines. The rules and guidelines cannot override the Act. “I do not want to say anything in a hurry about the Speaker on this issue…we will wait for the Speaker’s decision on the subject without jumping to any conclusion.”
Mr. Kharge is also Chairman of the selection committee of the party candidates in the elections to the Maharashtra Assembly scheduled to be held in October. He said the results of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana would be different from the Lok Sabha elections swept by the BJP. “The people are already disillusioned with the performance of the Modi government at the Centre, which was elected in the high hope that it would bring down inflation and prices of the essential commodities…. the promised “Achche Din Ayengi” is still a far cry for the common people.”
He said the newly appointed BJP President Amit Shah and other BJP leaders including Anantkumar were daydreaming about the annihilation of the Congress party and that the Congress party would rise like the Phoenix. “The 120-year-old party cannot be uprooted by any thunderstorm or tsunami. The Congress party will bounce back with a bang.”
