Former Congress president and M.P Rahul Gandhi (Rahul Gandhi) will now be seen in a new role in Parliament. Rahul Gandhi will be the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. Congress has written a letter to Protem Speaker Bhatrihari Mahtab and informed about this. After the formation of the Modi government in 2014, the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha has been vacant for the last 10 years. However, now Rahul Gandhi will be in the role of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. Indian democracy has many such posts, which are considered very powerful. This includes the post of Leader of the Opposition. Perhaps this is the reason why Rahul Gandhi is ready for this. Rahul Gandhi will get the status of Cabinet Minister and will be given salary and facilities accordingly.
Why is the position of Leader of Opposition so important?
The Leader of the Opposition has the status of a Cabinet Minister. However, this is not the only reason why this post is considered so important. In fact, along with holding the responsibilities of Leader of the Opposition, he is also a part of several joint parliamentary panels and select committees. It includes the Director of the CBI, the Central Vigilance Commissioner, the Chief Election Commissioner of the Election Commission of India and selection committees for the appointment of Election Commissioners, the Chief Information Commissioner, the Lokayukta and the Chairman and members of the National Human Rights Commission. As the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi will directly intervene in these decisions. In the decisions of these committees, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be necessary.
Rahul Gandhi is besieging the government with CBI and other agencies. In such a situation, now they will also have an important role in the appointment to higher posts of these agencies.
Along with this, as the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi will also be the head of the Accounts Committee. In such a situation, we will keep a close eye on the economic decisions of the government and can also review them. Only the Accounts Committee scrutinizes government expenditure, so Rahul Gandhi is going to get this responsibility automatically as he becomes the Leader of the Opposition.
This is the salary of the Leader of Opposition and such facilities are available.
An MP who holds the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha gets the same salary as a Union Minister and gets allowances and other facilities accordingly. The Leader of Opposition gets a salary of Rs 3.30 lakh per month. Also a Cabinet Minister’s residence level bungalow is available. Besides, the facility of driver has also been provided along with the car. Also there is a staff of 14 people to handle the responsibility.
Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have also been leaders of opposition.
Rahul Gandhi is the third member of the Gandhi family to become the Leader of the Opposition. Both his father Rajiv Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi have been opposition leaders. Rajiv Gandhi held this position from 18 December 1989 to 24 December 1990. While his mother Sonia Gandhi held the post from 13 October 1999 to 6 February 2004.
54 MPs are required for Leader of Opposition
Sushma Swaraj was last the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014. However, after him, this post has now gone to Rahul Gandhi. The reason behind not being Leader of Opposition for 10 years was that 54 MPs did not win any opposition party in the 2014 and 2019 elections. According to the rules, to become the Leader of the Opposition, you need to have 10% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha i.e. 54 MPs. Both times Congress did not have that many MPs. However, this time Congress has managed to win 99 seats.
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