SHILLONG, March 13: The Opposition parties in the Assembly are disjointed and nonchalant on the issue of selecting a Leader of the Opposition.
While Congress claims that its nominee should get the recognition by virtue of it being a national party, the strategy of TMC, which has equal number of five seats along with Congress, was unclear. Congress, TMC, and VPP which have a combined strength of 14, are yet to reach any consensus on having an opposition leader.
TMC leader, Charles Pyngrope said on Monday that the Congress, TMC, and VPP did not have a formal discussion on the matter.
Meanwhile, Speaker Thomas A. Sangma said that he has received applications from the Congress and TMC requesting his recognition while the Voice of the People Party has not submitted any kind of indication to be part of the opposition bench.
“The office is examining the matter,” he said while confirming that the VPP has not submitted any written response to indicate that it wants to be a part of the Opposition bench.
Stating that the three opposition parties are separate entities as of now, the Speaker added that it is up to the Opposition to file a joint nomination for the post of Deputy Speaker which is conventionally allotted to the opposition.
The ruling coalition is unlikely to concede this position to the opportunities. It is now certain the post of Deputy Speaker will go to Timothy D. Shira.
The election is slated for the first day of the Budget session on March 20.
Meanwhile, sources in the Law Department said they are in a fix on whether to issue notification for the nomination or election of the Leader of Opposition due to the prevailing situation as the required quorum of 10 (one-sixth of the total strength of the House) is neither being fulfilled by any party nor are the opposition parties coming together for an alliance.
The sources recalled a similar precedence after the 2014 general elections when the Lok Sabha operated without a Leader of Opposition as the Congress party had won 44 seats and fell short of the necessary 10% mark of the total strength of the Lower House (545).
