What is the role of the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition?

Who can serve as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha?

The position of Leader of Opposition was officially described in The Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.

The Act describes the Leader of Opposition as a “member of the Council of States or the House of the People, as the case may be, who is, for the time being, the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised as such by the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the People”.

In an article written for The Indian Express in May 2017, former Lok Sabha Secretary General PDT Achary said: “The law is clear that the Speaker is required to recognise the leader of the numerically largest party in opposition as the leader of opposition. The option of not recognising him/ her is just not available.”

Achary, however, rejected the conventional understanding that to get the post of Leader of Opposition, a party must have at least 10% of MPs in the House. He wrote:

“A mysterious rule is often quoted by some self-styled experts, which requires a party to have at least 10 per cent of the members of the House for the Speaker to recognise someone as the Leader of the Opposition. There is no such rule. Yes, there is direction 121 issued by the Speaker for recognising a party or group for the purpose of providing certain facilities in the House… This direction relates to the recognition of a party, not the Leader of Opposition.”

Before the BJP in 2014 and 2019, the Congress, which had 415 members in Lok Sabha in 1984, had denied the TDP, which had 30 MPs, the post of Leader of Opposition.

What position does the Leader of Opposition have in the House?

The Leader of Opposition sits in the front row to the left of the Chair, and enjoys certain privileges on ceremonial occasions like escorting the Speaker-elect to the rostrum. The Leader of Opposition is also entitled to a seat in the front row during the Address by the President to both Houses of Parliament.

The main duty of the Leader of Opposition is to serve as the voice of the opposition in the House. An official booklet on Parliament published in 2012 says the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha “is considered as a shadow Prime Minister with a shadow Cabinet, ready to take over the administration if the Government resigns or is defeated on the floor of the House”.

Since the parliamentary system is based on “mutual forbearance”, the Leader of Opposition lets the Prime Minister govern and is, in turn, permitted to oppose. “His/ her proactive role in facilitating smooth functioning of the business of the House is as important as that of the Government,” the booklet says.

Theory apart, what practical role and responsibility does the Leader of Opposition have?

Most importantly, the Leader of Opposition is the opposition’s representative in the high-powered committees headed by the Prime Minister for appointment to key posts such as the Director of CBI, the Central Vigilance Commissioner and Chief Information Commissioner, the Chairperson and Members of the National Human Rights Commission, and the Lokpal.

As the Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2019, Kharge had alleged that the government repeatedly tried to keep the opposition out of the selection of the Lokpal on the ground that there was no Leader of Opposition.

In order of precedence, the Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha come at No. 7, along with Union Cabinet Ministers, the National Security Advisor, the Principal Secretary to the PM, the Vice-Chairperson of the NITI Aayog, former PMs, and Chief Ministers.