Although the budget session of the State Assembly is set to begin from March 20, there is no decision yet as to who will be the leader of opposition in the House.
Congress which has four MLAs in the Assembly has submitted a letter to the Speaker and stressed the need to have a leader of opposition in the House.
Recently, Congress MLA Ronnie V. Lyngdoh had said that Congress being a national party should have preference for the post of leader of opposition.
According to the rules of the Assembly, a political party which is represented by the leader of opposition should have at least ten members in the House of 60.
In the current House, the Congress with five MLAs, Trinamool Congress with five MLAs, and the newly floated Voice of the People’s Party with four MLAs are in the opposition bench.
If any two of the three parties in opposition form an alliance, the Speaker may appoint one of the senior legislators from the coalition as the leader of opposition.
In the past, the Speaker had considered the UDP with eight MLAs as the main opposition party, with one of its legislators having been given the post of leader of opposition.
The ruling MDA-2 has the support of 45 MLAs – 26 of the NPP, 11 of the UDP, two each of the BJP, HSPDP, PDF and two Independents.
