Days after being declared as the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in Haryana, Speaker Kanwar Pal on Tuesday granted Bhupinder Singh Hooda the status of the Leader of Opposition in the assembly.

"I recognise Hooda as the Leader of Opposition," the speaker said here. The speaker took the decision on a letter sent by newly appointed Haryana Congress president Kumari Selja.

She had requested that being the single largest opposition party, Hooda be granted the status as he had unanimously been elected the leader of the Congress Legislative Party.

The Congress has 17 MLAs in the state assembly.

Earlier, the post was held by Abhay Singh Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal, who lost it after some of his party MLAs resigned and switched sides.

Hooda, a two-time chief minister, had replaced Kiran Chaudhary as the CLP leader. The assembly polls in Haryana are slated for October this year.

4 INLD LEGISLATORS DISQUALIFIED

The four MLAs of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), who had switched sides by joining the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), were disqualified as members of the Haryana assembly by Speaker Kanwar Pal here on Tuesday.

The decision has come just a month ahead of the assembly elections in Haryana.

Those disqualified included Dabwali MLA Naina Singh Chautala, wife of Ajay Singh Chautala and mother of JJP leader Dushyant Chautala.  The other legislators are Anoop Dhanak (Uklana), Rajdeep Phogat (Dadri) and Prithi Singh (Narwana).

The action came on two petitions filed by INLD''s Balwan Singh and party''s senior leader Abhay Singh Chauata, the speaker said. The petitions were filed on March 25 and July 26.

The INLD leaders had petitioned before the speaker to declare them disqualified on account of their voluntarily giving up the membership of the INLD.  "I hold that respondents Pirthi Singh, Rajdeep, Naina Singh Chautala and Anoop Dhanak in both the petitions deserve disqualification," the speaker said in an order on Tuesday.

Since the split in the INLD last year and the formation of the JJP, both parties are going through a rough phase with some of their leaders joining the opposition camp.