Congress’s Chief Whip In Lok Sabha Demands Leader of Opposition Post for Party, Claims It is ‘Technically Eligible’

The Congress party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Kodikunnil Suresh on Tuesday (2 July) called for his party to be accorded the post of Leader of Opposition by the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi government in the Lok Sabha, reports The Hindu.

Suresh emphasised that the Congress party was technically eligible for the post, both as the second largest party in the Lok Sabha and as the leader of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) which has 92 seats in total.

Suresh also asserted that if PM Modi is indeed sincere about what he said on the importance of Opposition, he should give the position to the Congress and Deputy Speaker's post to another opposition party.

As per the report, on the first day of the seventeenth Lok Sabha on 18 June, PM Modi had said that a vibrant Opposition, notwithstanding its numbers, was important in a parliamentary democracy.

However, it should be noted that as per the norms, the Leader of Opposition is the leader of the largest party that has not less than a tenth of the total strength of the Lok Sabha. Given the total strength of the house stands at 545, so only a party with more than 55 members can get the post, while Congress party had won only