Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Majahan
With the Congress raising the pitch on the issue of Leader of the Opposition or LoP in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today said she was ready to discuss the issue with the party if approached by Congress leaders.
"If somebody comes to me and talks to me, be it Congress or any other party, I will definitely talk to them," Ms Mahajan told reporters.
This comes after Congress President Sonia Gandhi asserted that her party was entitled to the post.
"We are the single-largest party. We have got a pre-poll alliance. Hence, we are entitled to the Leader of Opposition's post," Gandhi, who is also the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson, said today in her first comments on the LoP issue that has seen the party at loggerheads with the BJP and the Narendra Modi government.
Earlier, party spokesman Anand Sharma had said that Congress would exercise all options to ensure a "democratically correct and logical conclusion" to the issue and did not rule out the possibility of approaching courts in the matter.
"There is no doubt about that... No ruling of the Speaker can substitute or override an Act of Parliament. Anybody saying so lacks elementary understanding of the law and the statute," Mr Sharma said when asked whether the Speaker was acting at the behest of BJP.
Ms Mahajan expressed hope that everybody will cooperate during the budged session and said that her first priority will be ensuring smooth running of the session.
"My first priority will be to ensure that the budget session runs smoothly. We will try to bring out solutions of problems of the country -- both economical and others -- through a meaningful dialogue," she said.