Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has said that the Congress is not entitled to the post of Leader of the Opposition. Sources said that he has shared his opinion to the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan who had sought his view on the issue.

Sources also said that the Attorney General has quoted the First Speaker of the Lok Sabha, G V Mavlankar who had said that the Leader of the Opposition must belong to a party whose MPs match the quorum of the house of 55. He said, the policy has been followed for nearly 60 years, and there was no Leader of Opposition at different times.

Congress has 44 members in the House which is short of the requisite number of 55 MPs to get the post.

The new government maintains that it is following guidelines that the single largest Opposition party must have a tenth of the 543 seats in the House to claim the post of Leader of the Opposition. However, Congress has been claiming that it is entiled to the post as it is the single largest party and also has a pre-poll alliance.

The Leader of the Opposition is a part of important committees headed by the Prime Minister which selects key appointees including Lokpal and the CVC and CBI Director.