Issue of Leader of Opposition is in Speaker's court: Javadekar

Powers to appoint the Leader of Opposition (LoP) is with the Lok Sabha Speaker and not the government, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said today.
"The Speaker has all the powers to decide who will be LoP. We (government) cannot do anything. Moreover, people of India also refused them (Congress) to have that much of a majority to claim the LoP's post," the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs told a press conference here.
He was here to attend the engagement ceremony of BJP national president Amit Shah's son.
Javadekar, who holds the independent charge of Information and Broadcasting, said, "We want both Doordarshan and Akashvani to be popular among the masses. I held a meeting with local officials and asked them to come with ideas to improve the content of DD and AIR," he said.

"To do that, we have decided to invite suggestions from people about what they would like to watch and listen," he said.
"We are taking steps to make Doordarshan channels available in all cable TV as well as direct to home platforms. Similarly, we need to convert the Medium Wave (MW) frequency of Akashvani to FM, as majority of radio sets catch only FM signals these days," he said.

Answering a question on the government's preparedness to tackle a possible drought due to a delayed monsoon, Javdekar admitted that the country would be in trouble if it does not rain.

"We held detailed discussions recently about how to face this challenge. Our government will make sure that people do not face shortage of food due to delayed monsoons," he said.
"However, our country is still dependent on rains. We all should pray for enough rain, otherwise, we will face problems," he added.