The Congress working committee has designated Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi to be Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It will be the first time that Rahul Gandhi will take any responsibility for a constitutional post., a fact for which he has been harshly criticised in the past.
BJP-led NDA will have to face a leader of Opposition for the first time since their rule started. No party could secure 10% of the Lok Sabha seats so far (54) to make them eligible to appoint an MP as the Leader of Opposition. An LoP, as the post is called, gets cabinet rank facility.
The constitution of India mandates the participation of the Leader of the Opposition in several key panels, such as the selection of election commissioners and the CBI director. The post will give Rahul Gandhi an opportunity to meet visiting heads of state to provide his perspective on national issues.
As the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi’s hands are full with the tasks on hand. Tasting success after long years, the Congress and the INDIA block are likely to raise issues such as the NEET exam scandal, the Agniveer scheme, and the Manipur crisis with force.
The procedure for recognising the leader of the opposition is well laid out. The leader of the opposition in the houses of Indian parliament is a statutory post, being simply the leader of the numerically biggest party in opposition to the government.
In case there are two or more parties having the same numerical strength in opposition in the House of the People, the Speaker of the House of the People shall recognise any one of the Leaders of such parties as the Leader of the Opposition.
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