Govt., Congress spar over LoP issue

Congress, which has been vocal on getting the LoP post, questioned the delay in granting the post

The government today cried foul against the opposition Congress party, for casting aspersions against the Speaker over the contentious issue of Leader of Opposition (LoP) post in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking to the mediapersons, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said: "Congress leaders' reactions are outrageous; especially, against the speaker, which is unacceptable. The speaker is for the entire house. To cast apprehension against the speaker shows desperation of the Congress. If people did not give them even 55 seats, what can we do?."

Meanwhile, when the LoP question was thrown at the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, she said: "I have got the letter on LoP issue. I will take a decision after looking into it."

Congress which has been vocal on getting the LoP post, questioned the delay in granting the Leader of Opposition's post to the party and also raised fears that the Speaker could be "influenced" by the government.

"The indications are that they do not want to give the post of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) to us. I did not say that Sumitra Mahajan is under pressure from the government. I said she is a new speaker and she will do what the government says?," Singh said.

There has been a tussle going on between the government and the Congress on the issue of Leader of the Opposition in the lower house of parliament ever since the 16th Lok Sabha came into its existence.

Though having the largest contingent among the opposition, Congress with 44 members falls short of the requirement. As per rules, any party needs to bag at least 10% of the total seats for its leader to claim the status of the leader of the opposition.