My Space/ Lok Sabha Vivek K Agnihotri
24 July 22, 2019FTER the formation of
the 17th Lok Sabha in
June 2019, the debate
regarding recognition of
the leader of the Congress
party as the Leader of the
Opposition has once again gained mom -
entum. During the 16th Lok Sabha a
similar controversy led to the selection
of the Lokpal without the leader of the
Congress party attending the meetings
of the selection committee. According to
the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013,
the chairperson and members of the
Lokpal are appointed by the President
after obtaining the recommendations of
a selection committee, inter alia, com-
prising the Leader of the Opposition in
the House of the People. Since the
leader of none of the parties in the Lok
Sabha was recognised by the Speaker as
the Leader of the Opposition, the leaderof the Congress party (the single largest
party —in opposition—in the Lok
Sabha) was invited as a special invitee to
the meetings of the selection committee.
Mallik arjun Kharge, the then leader of
the Con gress party, refused to attend the
meetings since, as a special invitee, he
had no power to vote.
It raises some important questions
about the institution of the Leader of
the Opposition. How is the Leader of
the Oppo sition appointed or designated
or recognised in the Indian Parliament?
The Leader of the Opposition is the offi-
cial spo kesperson of the minority party
or parties in a parliament. He can be
regarded as the shadow Prime Minister;
that is, in case the government falls or
resigns, the Leader of the Opposition
can lay claim to forming the next gov-
ernment. In the British Parliament, the
Leader of the Oppo sition is designatedas the Leader of Her
Majesty’s Most Loyal
Opposition. He or she
is usually the leader of
the political party with
the second largest
num ber of seats in the
House of Commons.
Sometimes, he is also
the overall Leader of
the Opposition, viz., the
leader of the opposition
for both the houses of
parliament taken toge -
ther, that is, the House of Lords and the
House of Commons. He or she receives
a statutory salary and perquisites equal
to those of a Cabinet Minister. Under
the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act,
1975, the Speaker’s decision on the iden-
tity of the Leader of the Opposition is
final. In the UK, the position of the
Leader of the Opposition was recog-
nised in the early 19th century.
As far as the Indian Parliament is
concerned, post-independence, the con-
cept of the opposition took root in 1969,
after the split of the Indian National
Congress, and Ram Subhag Singh, the
leader of the Indian National Congress
(Organisation), was regarded as the
Leader of the Opposition Party (LoP).
However, it was only in 1977, with the
passage of The Salary and Allowances of
Leaders of Opposition in Parliament
Act, 1977 (LoP Act, for short), that theIs a Leader of Opposition
Necessary?
Once again, the absence of a Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha ignites a debate and
raises many questions. What is the institution of the LoP? How is it recognised in Parliament?
REDUCED MINORITY
MPs from Congress and
other opposition parties
during the monsoon ses-
sion of the 17th Lok Sabha