Decode Politics: Why an LoP post after 10 years, and why it matters
After 10 years, the Lok Sabha will have a Leader of the Opposition, with the Congress winning 99 seats in the recent general elections. On Tuesday evening, following a meeting with INDIA bloc leaders at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, the Congress named senior leader and MP Rahul Gandhi for the post.
Parliament did not have an LoP the past two Sessions as no Opposition party had members equalling one-tenth of the total Lok Sabha strength, which has by practice been required to qualify for the post. While the Congress won 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, in 2019, it won 52.
Instead, Kharge, then a Lok Sabha MP, was recognised as the Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha after the 2014 elections, and the same was accorded to Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in 2019. By virtue of that, the two were part of several selection panels requiring the presence of the LoP.
At a meeting on June 8, the Congress Working Committee passed a unanimous resolution asking Rahul to accept the LoP post, now that the party had the numbers for it. On Wednesday, an official notification from Parliament said Rahul had been recognised as the Lok Sabha LoP by the Speaker.
In a post over his appointment, Rahul thanked Kharge and the Congress’s “Babbar Sher” workers “from across the country for their overwhelming support and warm wishes”. “Together, we will raise the voice of every Indian in Parliament, protect our Constitution, and hold the NDA government accountable for their actions,” he wrote on X.
Who is chosen as the LoP and what are the duties of the post?
The post officially came into being through the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977. The Act describes the LoP 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”.
The post hence goes to a leader chosen by the Opposition party with the highest number of MPs in the Lok Sabha, with the LoP’s main duty being to serve as the voice of the Opposition in the House.
In an article in The Indian Express in May 2017, former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achary wrote: “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.”
Further, Achary wrote: “A mysterious rule is often quoted by some self-styled experts, which requires a party to have at least 10 per cent of the members of the House for the Speaker to recognise someone as the Leader of the Opposition. 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.”
An official 2012 booklet on Parliament further says that the LoP in the 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”.
It further notes that as the parliamentary system is based on “mutual forbearance”, the LoP 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,” says the booklet.
What are the perks of the post?
The LoP occupies a seat in the front row in the House, left to the Chair, and enjoys certain privileges on ceremonial occasions like escorting the Speaker-elect to the rostrum. The LoP is also entitled to a seat in the front row at the time of the Address by the President to both Houses of Parliament.
Besides, the LoP is the Opposition’s representative in high-powered committees headed by the Prime Minister for appointment to key posts, like that of the CBI Director, Central Vigilance Commissioner, Chief Information Commissioner, chairperson and members of the NHRC, and the Lokpal.
As the Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2019, Kharge had claimed that the government had repeatedly tried to keep the Opposition out of selection of the Lokpal, on the grounds that there was no LoP.
In order of precedence, the LoPs in the 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.
What is the significance of Rahul Gandhi as LoP in the Lok Sabha?
Rahul’s decision to accept the post, his first constitutional responsibility, is a two-pronged signal to his detractors. It silences those critics who accuse him of shying away from taking up responsibility and of enjoying “power” without accountability. It also sends a signal to the government that the Opposition will not ease its pressure on the Narendra Modi government after having tasted blood in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Party leaders admitted that had Rahul, who never took up a ministerial position during the UPA government’s two terms and hasn’t held a party post since resigning as Congress president after the 2019 Lok Sabha poll debacle, not become LoP after the June 8 CWC resolution, the BJP could have interpreted it as a signal that he was running away from a direct contest with PM Modi.
With the LoP post defined as “shadow PM”, it is also a much-delayed admission by the Congress – if indirect – that Rahul is the party’s first contender for the post should power be within reach.
Which leaders have held the post of LoP in the past?
The last LoP in the Lok Sabha was under the UPA government, with senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj holding the post from December 2009 to May 2014 in its second term. Before Swaraj, the post was held by the BJP’s L K Advani from May 2009 to December 2009. In the UPA government’s first term, Advani was the LoP from May 2004 to May 2009.
Between October 1999 and February 2004, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee led an NDA government, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was the LoP. Sharad Pawar was the LoP in the Lower House from March 1998 to April 1999, when the Congress was out of power.
Vajpayee held the post from June 1997 to December 1997, while Rajiv Gandhi was the LoP from December 1989 to December 1990, after the Congress was dislodged by the V P Singh-led Janata Dal movement.
Others who have held the post include the Congress’s Ganga Devi (May 1996-June 1996) and Jagjivanrao Ganpatrao Kadam (July 1979-August 1979).
Incidentally, in 1984, which was the last time a single party secured a majority in the Lok Sabha before 2014, the Congress that had 415 MPs denied LoP status to the TDP, which had come in second and had 30 MPs.
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