Rahul Gandhi has been appointed the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal announced this on Tuesday, June 25. Venugopal said, “CPP President Sonia Gandhi has written a letter to Protem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab informing him about the decision to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha; other office bearers will be decided later.”
The decision was taken after a meeting of Indian block leaders at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday.
Rahul Gandhi has been a five-time MP and currently represents the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha. He took oath as an MP on Tuesday with a copy of the Constitution in his hand.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had won two Lok Sabha seats – Wayanad in Kerala and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. Following protocol, he vacated the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. The Congress has decided to field Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as its candidate for the Wayanad seat. This is also Priyanka Gandhi’s electoral debut.
Party leaders had urged Rahul Gandhi to contest for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The largest opposition party Congress has won the post of Leader of Opposition after a gap of 10 years. In the last two elections, it could not even get 10 percent of the Lok Sabha members required to win this post.
In the meeting held at Kharge’s residence on Tuesday, the strategy of the opposition before the election of the Lok Sabha Speaker was also discussed. The election of the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha will be held on Wednesday, June 26.
The ruling NDA and opposition party India Bloc have fielded their respective candidates – K Suresh and Om Birla. Efforts by the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party to build a consensus for the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha failed after the India Bloc decided to nominate eight-time MP K Suresh for the post.
His nomination comes after BJP’s Kota MP Om Birla filed his nomination for the same post. Birla has previously been the Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha.
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Published: June 25, 2024, 09:34 PM IST
