The Congress party is expected to take legal help if denied leader of opposition to its MP Mallikarjun Kharge in the Lower House. In the recent elections, Congress party was thrashed and it managed to win only 44 seats out of the 543. For any party to get the opposition status, it should win 10 percent seats out of the total 543. 55 seats is the magic figure for any party in Lower House to get the Opposition status and Congress is 11 seats short of it.

There are reports that Congress President Sonia Gandhi has written letter to Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan to stake claim to the post of opposition however the party's spokesperson Shakil Ahmad has denied such reports. He further questioned why there is a need for Congress President to write to Lok Sabha Speaker when there are Law that guarantees Congress the opposition status.

According to the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977, amended in 2002, states that the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairman of Rajya Sabha decides on the post only when there are two or more parties in opposition with the same numerical strength. Jayalalithaa's AIADMK and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress are marginally behind Congress party in the total tally of seats.

As the Budget sessions are due to begin in the month of July, a decision on the leader of Opposition will be taken and till then Congress is just like any other party in the Lok Sabha. Whereas Rajya Sabha, Congress has adequate seats to stake claim for the opposition post.

(AW: Vamshi)