Interim Leader of the Party in the Houses of the Parliament

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in News?
• Why did the Rajya Sabha Chairperson Reject the Request?
• What does the Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act 1998 Say?

Why in News?

• Rajya Sabha chairperson rejected the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) request to appoint its MP (Raghav Chadha) as the interim leader of the party in the Upper House.
• The AAP wants him (Chadha) to replace Sanjay Singh who is in judicial custody in the Delhi liquor scam case.

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Why did the Rajya Sabha Chairperson Reject the Request?

• Recently, AAP national convener and Delhi CM wrote to Rajya Sabha chairperson proposing (Chadha’s) name for the party’s interim leader.
• But sources in the Rajya Sabha secretariat said the request was rejected as there was no provision for the appointment of an interim leader of a party under the –
  • Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act, 1998.

What does the Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act 1998 Say?

• The Act deals with facilities to be provided to leaders and chief whips of recognised parties and groups in Parliament.
• It defines a “recognised group” as every party that has –
  • A strength of not less than 15 members and not more than 24 members in the Rajya Sabha, and
  • A strength of not less than 30 members and not more than 54 members in the Lok Sabha.
• According to the Act, a “recognised party” must have a strength of not less than 25 members in Rajya Sabha and not less than 55 five members in Lok Sabha.
• According to the Act, each leader, deputy leader and each chief whip of a recognised group and a recognised party shall be entitled to telephone and secretarial facilities.

Q1) What do you mean by office of whip?

A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own will.

Q2) What is the office of the Leader of Opposition?

Leader of Opposition is a statutory office provided for in the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in the Parliament Act, 1977. The leader of the party in opposition to the government which has the greatest number becomes the Leader of Opposition.

Source: Decode Politics: Dhankhar refuses to appoint Raghav Chadha AAP’s interim leader in Rajya Sabha — what the rules say