 "What will Rahul Gandhi’s role be as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha?")
The Lok Sabha is going to get the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) post after a decade. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will helm the Opposition in the lower house, the party declared on Tuesday (25 June).
The announcement came after a meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi. Speaking to the media, Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal said that Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi had written to pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab to inform him about appointing Rahul Gandhi as the LoP. “Other office-bearers will be decided later,” he added.
Honourable CPP Chairperson wrote a letter to the Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab informing the decision of appointment of Shri Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
— Congress (@INCIndia) June 25, 2024
: Congress General Secretary Shri @kcvenugopalmp pic.twitter.com/IKtayhtn3j
It was highly speculated that Rahul Gandhi would be the LoP in the 18th Lok Sabha after the Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the Opposition with 99 seats. Earlier in June, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had unanimously passed a resolution urging the Rae Bareli MP to become the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.
What is the LoP’s role in Lok Sabha? Why was the post vacant for the past 10 years? Let’s delve deeper.
Lok Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe Leader of the Opposition is an MP (Member of Parliament) in charge of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
As Indian Express noted, the leader is the parliamentary chairperson of the largest party, or coalition of parties, sitting in the opposition.
According to the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977, “‘Leader of the Opposition’, in relation to either House of Parliament, means that member of the Council of States or the House of the People, as the case may be, who is, for the time being, 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.”
A 2012 booklet on the Indian Parliament says that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is considered a “shadow Prime Minister with a shadow Cabinet”, who is ready to take over the administration if the incumbent government collapses.
“As the parliamentary system is based on mutual forbearance, the Leader of the Opposition lets the Prime Minister govern and is, in turn, permitted to oppose. His/her proactive role in facilitating smooth functioning of the business of the House is as important as that of the Government,” the booklet says.
The LoP is a Cabinet-rank post with its own perks. The occupant of the post is entitled to receive a salary per month and allowances for every day at the same rates as mentioned in Section 3 of the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954.
The LoP also gets a constituency allowance and a sumptuary allowance of Rs 2,000 every month.
Role of Lok Sabha’s LoP
The LoP’s role is crucial as the leader is the face and voice of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The post indicates the status of the party and leader, with its own powers and privileges.
The LoP sits on several key committees such as Public Accounts, Public Undertakings, Estimates, etc.
The MP is also part of various Joint Parliamentary panels. Perhaps, one of the most important jobs the LoP enjoys is being a part of the selection committees that appoint heads of bodies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Central Vigilance Commission, the Central Information Commission, Lokpal, as well as Election Commissioners and the chairperson of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
As LoP of the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi will sit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pick these key functionaries.
Why was there no LoP for a decade?
A political party needs 10 per cent of seats (55) to claim the post of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
While this condition is not mentioned in the Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, it can be found in the recognition requirement.
Direction 121(c) lays down the recognition of a party or group in Lok Sabha as having “at least a strength equal to the quorum fixed to constitute a sitting of the House, that is one-tenth of the total number of members of the House”.
No party in the opposition managed to secure 55 seats or more in the last two general elections. The Congress, the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, won just 44 seats in 2014.
While the Grand Old Party improved its tally in 2019 to 52, it still fell short of the mark to be entitled to the LoP post.
The Grand Old Party selected its current president Mallikarjun Kharge as the ‘Leader of Congress’ in the Lok Sabha in 2014. This post was held by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in 2019.
This time, the Congress has the required numerical strength in the Lok Sabha and the House will finally have its Leader of Opposition after 10 years.
Why Rahul Gandhi as LoP matters
The Congress had been pushing Rahul Gandhi to assume the Leader of the Opposition role for weeks now.
Although the party resisted fighting the Lok Sabha elections on a Modi vs Rahul pitch, the Gandhi scion took on the BJP from the forefront.
With Rahul Gandhi representing the opposition in Lok Sabha, the Congress has sent out a message that the party has no plans to go easy on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
“If he didn’t become Leader of the Opposition, it would have seemed like Rahul was shying away from the chance to take on the PM,” a party leader told Indian Express.
Explaining the INDIA bloc’s choice, Congress’ KC Venugopal said, “All the participants agreed that Rahul should take over the LoP post. During elections we raised the issues of unemployment, price rise, women’s equality and social justice. These issues need to be raised in a greater manner inside Parliament … Rahul is the best person to lead this campaign inside Parliament.”
With inputs from agencies
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