The 17th Lok Sabha, which was dissolved on June 5, did not have a deputy speaker for its full term, and it was the second consecutive term of the lower house without an LoP. All eyes are set at the lower house which will get an LoP, and is also expected to have a deputy speaker, a post which usually goes to the opposition ranks

New Delhi: With the INDIA bloc parties' numbers increasing in the 18th Lok Sabha, the lower house is set to get a leader of the opposition (LoP) after ten years, and opposition leaders also hope that a deputy speaker will be elected soon, a post that had been vacant for the last five years.

The 17th Lok Sabha, which was dissolved on June 5, did not have a deputy speaker for its full term, and it was the second consecutive term of the lower house without an LoP. All eyes are set at the lower house which will get an LoP, and is also expected to have a deputy speaker, a post which usually goes to the opposition ranks.

While the INDIA bloc has not yet held any coordination meeting on its strategy for the Parliament, an opposition leader said they will mount pressure that the deputy speaker's post is not left vacant this time. "The BJP government has been rejected by people, they did not elect any deputy speaker in last five years... Hope they have learnt a lesson and will elect a deputy speaker this time," a TMC leader said.

The 17th Lok Sabha, in which the BJP was in an absolute majority with 303 seats, elected Om Birla as the Speaker. In a first, no deputy speaker was elected through its term of five years. As per Article 93 of the Constitution, the Lok Sabha shall, as soon as may be, choose two members to be speaker and deputy speaker so often as the offices become vacant. However, it does not provide a specific time frame.

"The office of the deputy speaker is a constitutional requirement. However, a troubling trend is that legislatures, both national and state, have not filled the office of the deputy speaker. For example, between 2019 and 2024, there was no deputy speaker in the Parliament. The last Rajasthan Assembly also did not have a deputy speaker for its full five-year term," Chakshu Roy, who heads the legislative and civic engagement initiatives at PRS Legislative Research, said. "Their responsibility is to ensure that the voice of the opposition is effectively conveyed in legislative functioning. The position gives and recognises the opposition has a vital voice contributing to the debate. It is in recognition of this that laws have been made to give the LoP more status and also a position in selection committees of key offices," he said.

The post of LoP was not recognised till 1969, when Ram Subhag Singh became the first recognised LoP of the Lok Sabha. The post received statutory recognition through the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 which defines the term 'Leader of the Opposition' as that member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha who, for the time being, is the leader of that House of the party in opposition to the government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised, as such, by the chairman of the Rajya Sabha or the speaker of the Lok Sabha.

This time, the leader of Congress, which is the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha with 99 MPs, will be recognised as the LoP.