Bhubaneswar: Opposition Congress seems to have reconciled itself to the fact that it would lose the main opposition party status in the State Assembly consequent to the Orissa High Court disqualifying the membership of Sundargarh MLA Jogesh Singh in the state assembly on the grounds of submission of a false caste certificate.
Opposition Congress had 16 members in the State Assembly after 2014 General Assembly elections that came down to 15 after the death of Bijepur MLA Subal Sahu August 22 last year. However, the loss of Jogesh Singh’s seat has brought down its tally to 14 that works out to less than 10 per cent of the 147-member Assembly.
The HC invalidated the membership of Jogesh Singh on grounds that he submitted a fake caste certificate while filing nomination for the 2014 Assembly elections. Meanwhile, Singh has decided to approach the Supreme Court over this matter.
Reacting to this development, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Narasingha Mishra said, “A party needs to have at least one tenth of the total seats in the State Assembly to be in the opposition and as per rule, Congress needs at least 15 members to become the main Opposition party (in Orissa). However, with its number coming down to 14 now, it cannot claim for the LoP post for its leader.”
Mishra said it is up to the government if it wants a Leader of Opposition (LoP) post or not. Mishra, however, said that if Singh moves the apex court and manages to get a stay order, things will continue as it is. The Congress leaders said that if Congress manages to win the Bijepur by-poll, it may reclaim the LoP post.
The High Court Tuesday disqualified Jogesh Singh as MLA while hearing a petition filed by BJP candidate Sahadev Xaxa and Ajay Patel, another voter, who alleged that Singh had submitted a false caste certificate claiming he belonged to ‘Bhuyan’ tribe.
With the Budget session of the State Assembly likely to start towards the later part of February, it has to been seen if Mishra continues as the LoP.
Reacting to this, government chief whip Amar Satpathy said if the matter remains undecided at the court prior to convening of the assembly session, it has to be examined legally and the Speaker will take a final decision.
Officials of the Assembly secretariat, who declined to speak anything about this, however, said that it is mandatory for a party to have one tenth of the seats to claim the (LoP) post. The state government may not be keen to dislodge Congress as the main opposition party in the Assembly as the next General Elections are only months away, said sources.
PNN