Digvijaya Singh for Sonia Gandhi in Lokpal selection panel

Amid confrontation with the NDA government over the leader of the Opposition post, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Sunday demanded inclusion of the leader of the second largest party in Lok Sabha in the Lokpal selection committee.

"We have no greed for the status of the leader of Opposition. We don't want the perks of being a leader of Opposition. What we want is the inclusion of the leader of the second largest party in Lok Sabha into Lokpal selection committee," he said.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had recently demanded the status of the leader of the Opposition, hinting at taking a legal recourse if the government denied the post.

The selection committee of Lokpal consists of the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist nominated by the President or any other member.

According to parliamentary conventions, the status of Leader of Opposition is accorded to the leader of the second largest party that wins at least 10 per cent seats of Lok Sabha in General Elections. The Congress has 44 MPs, whereas for the status of the Leader of Opposition, it needed at least 55 seats. This means the Congress will not have a say in key appointments including the Lokpal.

Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu advised the Congress against politicising the issue.
"Till day before yesterday, they had not asked for the recognition from the Speaker and have been going around criticising the government. They seem to have given a letter only day before yesterday," he said.

"This blame game is not going to help. They should understand. They have so much to answer. There was no Leader of Opposition during Jawaharlal Nehru's period," he said, adding, there was none during Indira Gandhi's or Rajiv Gandhi's tenures too.

He said the Lok Sabha speaker will decide the matter soon.