Mallikarjun Kharge meets Sumitra Mahajan over LoP issue

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday met Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in the wake of a controversy over the Leader of Opposition (LoP) issue.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday met President Pranab Mukherjee and raised the issue. Gandhi has reportedly strongly contended that the Leader of Opposition post should be given to the Congress party.

Earlier, Congress leader Anand Sharma said that the party and its allies will be writing to Speaker asking for a quick decision in the issue of the Leader of Opposition.

He said that the Congress will exercise all options to get a democratically correct and logical conclusion to the issue.

The tussle over getting the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP) between the Congress and the Government has been going on for a while with the Congress pushing its case for the post on grounds that it has the most seats (44) in the opposition.

Currently the leader of the opposition is equivalent to the rank of a cabinet minister. The leader of opposition also has an important role to play in several key government appointments, such as Chief Vigilance Commissioner.