Why Congress may lose 'leader of opposition status' in Rajya Sabha, read here

The number of Congress MPs in the upper house is likely to be close to the minimum strength required to maintain the Leader of the Opposition status.

New Delhi: Congress Party might lose the leader of the opposition status in Rajya Sabha owing to its poor performance in the five assembly elections 2022, reported ANI additing that the party is staring at the possibility of such demotion.

The possibility arises as the number of Congress MPs in the upper house is expected to be at its historic low and likely to be close to the minimum strength required to maintain the Leader of the Opposition status.

What’s the hope for Congress?

The party’s only hope to maintain its leader of opposition status in Congress is to do well in the upcoming Gujarat and Karnataka Assembly Polls or it could lose this status in the subsequent biennial elections to the Upper House next year.

Current status of Congress in Rajya Sabha

Congress currently sits as the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha with 34 members but is on course to lose at least seven seats this year to hit a record low.

The Congress numbers will also come down in Assam, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh this year. While a few seats will be vacant next year in the upper House due to the retirement of members

Criteria for being the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha

According to the norms, to maintain the leader of the opposition status in Rajya Sabha, a party must have 25 per cent of its members in the Upper House.

Presently, Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge is the Leader of Opposition in the House.

The Congress does not have the leader of the Opposition status in Lok Sabha as its present strength in the House is less than 10 per cent of the membership of the House, which is the required limit.

The Election Commission had earlier this month announced elections on March 31 to fill 13 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha -- five from Punjab and eight from Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Nagaland and Tripura.

The members retiring next month from Punjab include two of Congress

Good news for AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party, with its three-fourth majority in the new Punjab assembly, will substantially boost its numbers and will be in a position to win at least six out of the seven seats in the state for which elections will be held this year to fill vacancies in the Upper House.