Lok Sabha Speaker rejects demand for LoS post; Cong to decide course of action

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday indicated that his party will analyse Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision of not granting Leader of Opposition (LoP) status to the Congress party and then decide further course of action.

Reacting to Mahajan's declining to accord the LoP post to the Congress, Kharge said, "I have not yet received any letter from the Speaker. I will see the contents of the letter and see the grounds on which our demand was rejected. We will then discuss with the party leadership and decide on the further course of action."

Mahajan, in a letter to the Congress, has reportedly said the party cannot get the LoP post as it does not have the mandatory 10 per cent or 55 MPs in the lower house.

Earlier, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had also given his opinion to the Speaker that the party should not be given the LoP status as it does not have the requisite number. He had said that neither parliamentary tradition nor the law supports the Congress' claim.

Congress has been demanding the post, saying the 10 percent of total strength in the house is not mandatory for the post. It has only 44 MPs in the 543 member Lok Sabha.