LEADER OF OPPOSITION
Rahul Gandhi is Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, a position that lay vacant for 10 years because no party had numbers equalling a tenth of the strength of the House, which has been by practice a requirement to lay claim to the post.
WASN’T THE OPPOSITION HAVING 10% SEATS IN LAST 10 YEARS?
The Congress, the largest opposition party, won 44 and 52 seats in the 543-member House after the elections of 2014 and 2019 respectively. The party has almost doubled its 2019 tally to 99 seats in this election.
WHO CAN SERVE AS THE LoP IN LS or RS?
The position of Leader of Opposition was officially described in The Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.
IS THE LOP POSITION CONSTITUTIONAL?
NO. It is a statutory post.
The Act describes the Leader of Opposition as a:
“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”.
IS IT MANDATORY FOR THE PRESIDING OFFICER TO RECOGNISE LOP?
The law is clear that the Speaker is required to recognise the leader of the numerically largest party in opposition as the leader of opposition. The option of not recognising him/her is just not available.
IS THE 10% REQUIREMENT MANDATORY?
PDT Achary (Former Lok Sabha Secretary General) rejected the conventional understanding that to get the post of Leader of Opposition, a party must have at least 10% of MPs in the House. There is no such rule.
Yes, there is direction 121 issued by the Speaker for recognising a party or group for the purpose of providing certain facilities in the House… this direction relates to the recognition of a party, not the Leader of Opposition.
WAS 2014 THE FIRST TIME WHEN INDIA HAD NO RECOGNISED LOP?
NO. Before the BJP in 2014 and 2019, the Congress, which had 415 members in Lok Sabha in 1984, had denied the TDP, which had 30 MPs, the post of Leader of Opposition.
LEADERS OF OPPOSITION OF RECENT PAST:
THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF POSITION OF LoP
- The Leader of Opposition sits in the front row to the left of the Chair, and enjoys certain privileges on ceremonial occasions like escorting the Speaker-elect to the rostrum.
- The Leader of Opposition is also entitled to a seat in the front row during the Address by the President to both Houses of Parliament.
- The main duty of the Leader of Opposition is to serve as the voice of the opposition in the House.
- An official booklet on Parliament published in 2012 says the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha “is considered as a shadow Prime Minister with a shadow Cabinet, ready to take over the administration if the Government resigns or is defeated on the floor of the House”.
- Since the parliamentary system is based on “mutual forbearance”, the Leader of Opposition lets the Prime Minister govern and is, in turn, permitted to oppose.
INVOLVEMENT OF LoP IN APPOINTMENTS
Most importantly, the Leader of Opposition is the opposition’s representative in the high-powered committees headed by the Prime Minister for appointment to key posts such as
- The Director of CBI,
- The Central Vigilance Commissioner
- Chief Information Commissioner,
- The Chairperson and Members of the National Human Rights Commission,
- The Lokpal
- The CEC & Election Commissioners
ORDER OF PRECEDENCE OF LoP
In order of precedence, the Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha come at No. 7, along with
- Union Cabinet Ministers,
- The National Security Advisor,
- The Principal Secretary to the PM,
- The Vice-Chairperson of the NITI Aayog,
- Former PMs, and
- Chief Ministers.
LIST OF DIGNITARIES IN ORDER OF PRECEDENCE
- President
- Vice-President
- Prime Minister
- Governors of States within their respective States
- Former Presidents
5A. Deputy Prime Minister
- Chief Justice of India
- Speaker of Lok Sabha
https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/table_of_precedence.pdf
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