Congress does not deserve LoP status
There is no precedent in Parliamentary history of a party availing the principal Opposition status or the LoP position without at least 10 per cent strength in the Lok Sabha.
After the massive electoral rout in the recent Lok Sabha election, Congress is desperate to bag the Leader of Opposition (LoP) status in Lok Sabha. The party is trying to make it an issue of political prestige now.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has made a desperate pitch for her party. “We are the single largest party in the Opposition. We have got a pre-poll alliance. Hence, we are entitled to leader of Opposition’s post,” Sonia told reporters outside the Parliament House on the opening day of the Budget Session.
To stake claim to the post, the Congress is collecting signatures from the UPA MPs. The party will submit a memorandum to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan along with the signatures demanding the LoP status. Earlier, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and party’s chief whip in the Lower House Jyotiraditya Scindia had called on the Speaker to press the demand.
Even though the issue is in Speakers’ court and a decision is yet to be taken, the Congress is mulling the option of moving the court.
“It is a mere designation. The Government should agree to it,” senior Congress leader and party’s Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Kamal Nath said.
But the question is whether the Congress deserves the Leader of Opposition status at all. The requisite for the principal Opposition party and the position of the Leader of Opposition is clear in the rule book.
According to the Parliamentary provision, in order to get a statutory recognition as the principal Opposition party and avail a Leader of Opposition status in Lok Sabha, a party must have at least 10 per cent of the total strength of the House.
In the last Lok Sabha election, the Congress bagged a measly 44 seats – 11 seats short of availing the principal Opposition party position and the LoP status.
There is no precedent in Parliamentary history of a party availing the principal Opposition status or the LoP position without at least 10 per cent strength in the Lok Sabha.
In 1952, the then Speaker Ganesh Mavalankar didn’t recognise National Democratic Party (NDP) as an Opposition party. The NDP, which was formed by Jan Sangh, together with other small parties had 32 Members in the first Lok Sabha.
Until 1969, there was no Leader of Opposition in the Lower House till the time RamSubhag Singh of Indian National Congress (O) had occupied the post in the fourth Lok Sabha in the year Congress was divided.
The Leader of Opposition post was vacant between 1970 and 1977 in the fifth Lok Sabha until it was occupied by YB Chavan of Congress in 1977 after Indira Gandhi’s Emergency Regime was booted out of power. In 1980, the Indira Gandhi-led Congress returned to power and the Leader of Opposition post was left vacant till 1989 until it was occupied by Rajiv Gandhi in the ninth Lok Sabha when Janata Dal came to power.
Now, after sliding to a tally of less than 50 for the first time, the Congress is vociferously pitching for the principal Opposition position and the Leader of Opposition status by playing victim. The party argues that it is entitled to the positions according to the ‘true democratic spirit’ of the country.
Congress’s argument is laughable and it is a clear case of the devil quoting from scripture. A party which subverted democratic institutions is now talking about the democratic spirit!
http://www.niticentral.com/2014/07/13/congress-does-not-deserve-lop-status-233233.html