Who is the opposition anyway?

Criticising BNP MP Harunur Rashid for his claim that his party is the main opposition, Jatiya Party lawmaker Mashiur Rahman Ranga yesterday requested the Deputy Speaker to give a ruling in parliament clarifying who is the opposition.

Ranga, the opposition chief whip, was speaking in parliament during the general discussion on the proposed budget for fiscal 2020-21.

Earlier during the discussion, Harun claimed that they were the opposition and that there were no other opposition other than them.

Addressing Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah, who was presiding over the parliament sitting, Ranga said, "You are the custodian of the House. You please give a ruling on who is the opposition.

"He [Harun] always says they, not the Jatiya Party, are the opposition. Why does he say this?" he asked, demanding that Harun's words be expunged from the proceedings.

The lawmaker from JP, the main opposition in parliament, also said the opposition leader, the deputy opposition leader and the opposition chief whip all are present in the JS sitting, but "he [Harun] always claims they are the opposition."

Ranga, who was also a state minister for LGRD in the previous cabinet headed by Sheikh Hasina, then criticised Harun for one of his comments that the current parliament was not formed in a proper manner.

"In which year was parliament formed in a proper way? A parliament formed during the tenure of a previous BNP government lasted for only for 15 days."

The opposition chief whip also came down heavily on the BNP MP for uttering names of two convicted persons during the sitting -- BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who left the country during the military-backed caretaker government's tenure in 2008 for "receiving treatment" and has been staying in London since then.

Addressing the deputy speaker, Ranga said, "I think you'll have to call him [BNP MP Harun] to your room for an hour to make him understand how parliament is run and who is the opposition, who is the ruling party and who is the militant party."

Harun was not in parliament at that time as he had just walked out due to what he claimed was the Deputy Speaker's interruption to his speech.

Currently, the JP has 26 MPs in parliament while the BNP has seven.