GUWAHATI: The Opposition Congress here has written a letter to Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi seeking restoration of the Leader of the Opposition status accorded to Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, Debabrata Saikia.
The Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly had recently withdrawn the recognition of Saikia as Leader of the Opposition after two Congress MLAs quit to join the ruling BJP, reducing the grand old party’s number of lawmakers to 20, one less than the 21 needed to have one-sixth of the total members of the Assembly.
According to the official notification (dated January 1, 2021) issued last Monday, the Opposition Congress does not have the requisite one-sixth House strength in the 126-member Assembly to hold the post of Leader of the Opposition.
“It is unfortunate and shocking that at the fag end of the 14th Assam Legislative Assembly, you consider it appropriate to withdraw the Leader of the Opposition status from the Indian National Congress, which is without any ambiguity the single-largest Opposition party in the current Assembly. Due to the sudden demise of a few honourable members and resignation of a few others, the number of INC members has decreased but we are still the single-largest Opposition party in the House,” the letter to the Governor on Thursday read.
According to Section 2 of Salary and Allowances of the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly Act, 1978, “Leader of Opposition” denotes that member of the Legislative Assembly who, for the time being, is the Leader of the Opposition party having the greatest numerical strength in the House and recognised as such by the Speaker.
“Further, as per the Rule 2(1) (p) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Assam Legislative Assembly, it is stipulated that “Leader of the Opposition” means the leader of the largest recognised party in the Opposition and recognised as such by the Speaker. Hence, there is no scope of any one-sixth rule of quorum being applicable for the purpose of deciding the position of “Leader of the Opposition”, when the Act as well as the Rule have amply clarified the definition,” the letter read.
“Even if one takes into account the one-sixth rule of quorum for argument’s sake, then it ought to be taken into account that the current strength of the House is not 126 but 119. As many as three MLAs have passed away and it is not the Opposition’s fault that the government has been unable to hold the by-elections to even one of the vacant seats.
The party called upon the Governor to “set right this action, which is not only arbitrary, but also unlawful and against the statutory provisions.”
“We trust that you will take an immediate initiative to have the notification revoked and forthwith restore Debabrata Saikia as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly,” the letter read.
