jagan-wants-lop-status-despite-lacking-in-numbers

Despite a crushing defeat in the recent elections that saw his party’s tally plummeting to 11 in the 175-member Andhra Pradesh assembly, the YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has sought the status of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) for himself in the House.

 

In a letter to the assembly Speaker Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, the former Chief Minister contended that it was not mandatory to secure 10 per cent of the total number of assembly seats for the leader of a political party to be recognised as the Leader of Opposition.

 

“The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Assembly notified under Article 208 of the Constitution do not prescribe mandatory 10 per cent seats for a leader of a party to be recognised as the Leader of Opposition,” Jagan said.

 

Also, there has been no convention of the insistence of 10 per cent strength on the floor of the House for the Opposition party, in the unified State of Andhra Pradesh to grant such recognition as LoP, he argued.

 

Going by the precedents in the Lok Sabha, Delhi Assembly and the Assembly of undivided Andhra Pradesh, he said the Leader of Opposition status should be given to the YSRCP leader.

 

The Leader of Opposition post was given to a leader belonging to the opposition parties though their numerical strength was less when compared to the total strength of the House, Jagan said.

 

There have been intense discussions in the public domain that the YSRCP would not be entitled to have the Leader of Opposition post because it did not have 10% members of the total strength of the House. As per the legislative practice, the Leader of the Opposition is given cabinet rank.

 

The ruling Telugu Desam Party has, however, made it clear that the YSRCP should not aspire for the LoP status since it does not have the requisite numbers. “Jagan should respect the people’s mandate and accept the reality,” the state Finance and Legislative Affairs Minister P Keshav said.

 

However, the supporters of Jagan and his party point out that in 1984, the TDP was given the Leader of Opposition status in Lok Sabha even though it secured only 30 seats of the total 543 in the House. In 1994, the Congress was given the Leader of Opposition status in undivided Andhra Pradesh though its strength was only 26 of the total 294 seats. In 2015, the LoP post was given to the BJP in the Delhi Assembly though the saffron party secured only three of the total 70 seats.

 

The LoP, with the associated rights of addressing the matters of grave public concern, imparts the necessary bi-partisanship to the proceedings of the House and the legitimacy of ensuring participation of divergent and opposing views on the policies of the government, the YSRCP leaders argued.