Rahul Gandhi has been appointed as leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal announced this on Tuesday, June 25. “CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote to Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab informing the decision of appointment of Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha; other office bearers will be decided later,” Venugopal said.
The decision was taken after INDIA bloc leaders met at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on Tuesday.
Rahul Gandhi has been an MP for five terms and currently represents the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha. He took oath as an MP on Tuesday while holding a copy of the Constitution.
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 their candidate for the Wayanad seat. This also marks Priyanka Gandhi’s electoral debut.
Party leaders had urged Rahul Gandhi to run for Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress, the single largest opposition party, won the post of opposition leader after a 10-year gap. It failed to secure 10 per cent of the Lok Sabha members required to secure the post in the last two elections.
The Tuesday meeting at Kharge’s residence also discussed the Opposition’s strategy ahead of the rare Lok Sabha speaker election. The 18th Lok Sabha speaker will be elected on Wednesday, June 26.
The ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc have fielded their respective candidates – K Suresh and Om Birla. Efforts by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s top leadership to reach a consensus on the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha came to naught when the INDIA bloc decided to nominate eight-time MP K Suresh for the post.
His nomination followed the filing of nomination by BJP’s Kota MP Om Birla for the same position. Birla previously served as the Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha.
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Published: 25 Jun 2024, 09:34 PM IST
