Centre softens stand on Leader of Opposition
Union government says Opposition group would have to agree on leader
New Delhi: The Centre has indicated to have softened its stand on according Leader of Opposition (LoP) status to a party or a group in Lok Sabha. However the Congress has intensified its move to cobble-up support of other parties to claim the position.
Top managers in the government, however, claimed that there wo-uld be a “catch” in it, as only a group having 10 per cent of House strength could be accorded the status. In such a situation members of other parties, who join the “Opposition alliance”, have to declare a person of a different party as their House leader.
“We will have no problem in accepting a person representing a gro-up of parties as LoP provided it has 10 per cent of the House strength. But rest of the members in the group other than party which gets the status would need to bear with the question of leadership on the floor,” a government function-ary said. He added that when a “whip is issued by the leader of the party,” it would “legally apply to the members of other parties in the group” under Anti-Defection law.
The Centre had earlier, taken a tough stance on the issue by citing rulings by ex-Speakers and pointing out that there were no formally designated LoPs under Cong-ress governments in the past.