They are wasting their energy behind an ego battle when they should do the needful to emerge better in the upcoming various assembly elections.
The ruling party often years is very much in distress these days.
Not only it has been decimated by the prime opposition of ten years, it is also limited to a number which bars it from becoming the leader of opposition (LoP) too. Congress has secured 44 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha which is less than the required 10 per cent seats for gaining the post of LoP.
And that hurts.
They have been trying all the methods to woo the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan who is not at all in the mood of defying law and giving Congress the LoP status. She had said that she will take a decision before the Budget session after consulting constitutional experts, legal luminaries and “experienced” persons.
“There are rules and regulations. One says 10 percent, another says single-largest group. And there are past precedents which I will have to study,” Mahajan had said.
All worked up, the new Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, met Mahajan on Thursday for resolving the issue. Congress chief whip Jyotiraditya Scindia as also four members of the UPA were part of the delegation led by Kharge at the meeting held just four days ahead of the commencement of Budget session of Parliament.
Maintaining that the post of LoP in Lok Sabha is the “right of Congress”, the party had in the past expressed confidence that Speaker Sumitra Mahajan would take a decision in their favour in this regard when the next Parliament session begins on 7 July.
Speaker has convened a meeting of leaders of all parties today to ensure smooth running of the Budget session scheduled from July 7 to Aug 14. Yet, there are no signs of LoP post being given to the grand old Congess.
The old loyalist of the party Digvijay Singh has been meticulously defending his party which is standing only because it has more number of sycophants than leaders. Singh appeared in the same patronizing avatar issuing statement on the issue today. He said that “To hold LoP position 55 seats are required so the law needs to be amended.”
Similarly, a senior leader told The Telegraph, “There is no way this injustice will be accepted by us as the legal position is crystal clear. We are aware how the BJP leaders are trying to create confusion about the issue but we will be forced to take the matter to the Supreme Court if injustice is done in Parliament.”
Amid all this, Times of India reported: The Congress is mulling the option of moving court if it is denied the post of leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, a possibility that may up its confrontation with the ruling BJP. Sources said there is a strong section within pushing for a legal battle, stating that the party has a strong case to test the Modi government.
The Congress party and its leaders are not able to understand that the LoP position is not their “right”. They just lost the biggest mandate of the people and they need to contemplate and find the faults within them. They are wasting their energy behind an ego battle when they should do the needful to emerge better in the upcoming various assembly elections.
But it seems the Congress party is not ready to learn the lesson.
