Leader of the House

• This office is mentioned in the rules of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
• The Leader of the House has significant influence over the conduct of business of the House.
• Each house has its own designated leaders. 
• The leader of the house is a member of the ruling party at the national level. The Prime Minister serves as the leader of the house they are part of; for instance, PM Modi is the leader of the Lok Sabha since he is a member of it. 
• The Prime Minister is responsible for appointing the leader of the other house. Currently, Shri Piyush Goyal holds the position of leader of the Rajya Sabha.

Leader of the Opposition

• The leader of the opposition is from the main opposition party within the parliamentary house. 
• Principal opposition party is the one which possesses a minimum of 10% of total strength of the house. E.g. A political party with minimum 55 seats in the Lok Sabha can be recognized as the principal opposition party. 
• Such a party chooses its leader in the house and such a leader is then appointed as the Leader of opposition. 
• Each house has its own leader of the opposition. The Speaker and the Chairman have the power to recognise a leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.
• This position was officially recognized by the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977. 
• The role is equivalent to that of a cabinet minister in terms of remuneration and benefits.
• The post of leader of opposition is currently vacant in the Lok Sabha as no opposition party has a requisite strength of 55 members. 

Role of Whip in Indian Parliament

• This post is neither mentioned in the rules of houses nor in the constitution. It owes its origin to parliamentary conventions. 
• They are selected by their respective political parties. 
• Primary duty of the whip is to ensure that the maximum number of members of his/her party attend the sitting of the parliament so that the party can garner support in favor or against a particular issue. 
• Members of the parliament may face a disciplinary action from their respective political party if they violate directions of whip. 
• The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs serves as the Chief Whip for the Government. 
• Instruction of a Whip is also called Whip. This instruction is usually to vote according to the party line in a legislature. It is usually issued in case of a vote on an important issue. There are three types of Whip/Instructions:      
  • One Line Whip: It is non-binding, and merely serves to inform the members of the vote.
  • Two Line Whip: This ensures attendance in the legislature during voting.
  • Three Line Whip: It is a clear cut directive to be present in the legislature during the vote and case vote according to the party line.Violation of this whip could lead to a member’s expulsion from the house.

Sessions of Parliament

A session of Parliament refers to the time frame between its initial meeting and the prorogation date. The duration between two sessions cannot exceed six months. Typically, three sessions are conducted each year. They are as follows – 

• Budget Session 
• Monsoon session
• Winter session

A session of the Parliament consists of many sittings. The President has the authority to call each house of Parliament for its meetings. The date on which a session begins is announced with such a summons.

Important key concepts