Delhi Speaker wants LoP in Lok Sabha

“Leader of Opposition is an important pillar of democracy. There should be a rule for permanent post of the Leader of Opposition in every House. I demand that Prime Minister should give LoP post to the Opposition in the Lok Sabha so that they can raise the voice of the people there,” said Goel to media persons on Friday.

The Speaker gave LoP post to BJP despite it has only three MLAs in the 70 member Delhi Assembly. “They had not demanded for it. It was only after they demanded in writing that we granted the post to the Opposition,” he added explaining the delay. 

However, Gupta claimed that they never demanded the post and got it as a matter of right but Goel countered his claim. “On April 13, they wrote a letter, demanding the post which was granted,” said Goel.  

The Speaker also informed that the 21 parliamentary secretaries appointed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would be provided accommodation in Delhi Vidhan Sabha premises. “There are 14 rooms lying vacant. We also have 3-4 big halls which would be partitioned to create cabins for parliamentary secretaries,” informed Goel. 

It is important to mention that the previous Congress government used to have 3-4 parliamentary secretaries who were allotted offices in Delhi secretariat.  

The Speaker further informed that from May 1, parliamentary secretaries will have an office so that they can meet people and hear out their grievances. While appointing these party MLAs as parliamentary secretaries in March, AAP government said they would not receive any remuneration or perks of any kind from the government — meaning no burden on exchequer.