Renewing the Congress’s call for the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the party’s chief whip in the House, Kodikunnil Suresh, said on Tuesday that it was technically eligible for the post, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should accord it the position if he was sincere about his comments on the Opposition.
Mr. Modi had said on the first day of the 17th Lok Sabha on June 18 that a vibrant Opposition, notwithstanding its numbers, was important in a parliamentary democracy.
Mr. Suresh told The Hindu that the Congress had so far not demanded the post, though technically it was eligible, both as the second largest party in the Lok Sabha and as leader of the United Progressive Alliance which had 92 seats.
If the Prime Minister was indeed sincere about what he said on the importance of the Opposition, he should give the Leader of the Opposition post to the Congress and the Deputy Speaker’s post to another Opposition party, he said.
Norms and figures
By norms, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest party that has not less than a tenth of the total strength of the House.
The total strength of the Lok Sabha is 545, so any party that has 55 members can get the post. The Congress, which is the second largest party in the House after the BJP, has only 52 members, which is three short of the figure.
The Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 only says that the largest Opposition party should get the post.
“Leader of the Opposition” is the “Leader in that House of the party in opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised as such by the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the People, as the case may be,” says the Act.