A day after the Supreme Court questioned the government over the absence of a Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Saturday said the Supreme Court's observations were not against her. “The apex court has not questioned the Speaker on the LoP issue, but the government,” she said.
Talking to journalists on the sidelines of an event, Ms. Mahajan said the Attorney General would inform the apex court about the government's stand on the LoP issue in the context of the appointment of the Lokpal.
Defending herself, Ms Mahajan said, “My job was to decide whether a leader should be recognised as the Leader of the Opposition and that decision has been taken based on numbers. No Opposition party has more than 55 members.”
The Speaker's decision will affect the appointment of other constitutional authorities such as the Chief Information Commissioner; the RTI Act mandates that the views of the Leader of the Opposition are required on the appointment of a CIC.
“The BJP is trapped in its own net. A vacancy in the constitutional position has arisen and the government will face a problem every time the LoP is needed for such an appointment,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
