Rahul Gandhi Nominated as Leader of the Opposition
Rahul Gandhi has been nominated as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. This proposal was passed during a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, where party members expressed their belief that Rahul is the right person to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Rahul Gandhi has stated that he needs time to consider the proposal.
According to NDTV, the CWC passed a resolution on Saturday requesting Rahul Gandhi to assume the role of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Rahul is credited with leading the party to victory in 99 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. If he accepts this role, he will become the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha after a decade.
In the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi was elected with a significant majority from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and his constituency, Wayanad in Kerala. The Hindustan Times reported that when the proposal to make Rahul the Leader of the Opposition was raised at the CWC meeting, he indicated that he would consider it. At that point, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge reminded him that the CWC had passed the resolution, and he should accept the position.
Following the meeting, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal stated, "In a separate resolution, the CWC unanimously requested Rahul Gandhi to accept the position of Leader of the Opposition. Everyone present at the meeting agreed that Rahul Gandhi should take on this role."
For the past two elections, in 2014 and 2019, there was no Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha because no party secured the required 10% of the 543 seats. This time, Congress has achieved significant success both individually and as part of an alliance. The Congress-led INDIA alliance won 233 seats, a substantial increase from the less than 100 seats secured by the UPA alliance in the 2019 elections. The Congress alone won 99 seats, earning it the status of the principal opposition party, achieving success in 29% of the seats contested against the BJP.
