The Congress Working Committee on Saturday, 8 June, passed a resolution unanimously electing Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha. “All the participants unanimously said that Rahul ji should take up the LoP position,” said KC Venugopal, General Secretary (Organisation) of the Congress.
The CWC held a meeting on Saturday morning, a day prior to the swearing in and oath taking ceremony of the government and its ministers. Hours after this development, the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) re-elected Sonia Gandhi as its chairperson.
“We raised so many issues in this election, on unemployment, price rise, social justice...These issues have to be continued (to be spoken about) in a greater manner inside the parliament also. Rahul ji is the best person to lead the campaign inside the parliament. Entire CWC feels that for a better, strong and more vigilant opposition...should be safe under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi as LoP,” said Venugopal.
However, Gandhi is yet to take a call and announce his decision. “Rahul ji heard the sentiments of the CWC and told us that he will take a decision very soon,” Venugopal added.
'Must Take Note Of INDIA Partners': Kharge at CWC
A second resolution passed by the CWC made a note of Gandhi’s contributions to the elections. The resolution said that Gandhi “has to be singled out largely because of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that he designed and led. Both these Yatras that reflected his own thinking and personality were historic turning points in our nation’s politics and instilled hope and confidence in lakhs of our workers and crores of our voters.”
Moreover, Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, in his opening remarks at the CWC made a note of the INDIA bloc and contribution of all the alliance partners. “I will be failing in my duty if I don’t acknowledge the INDIA Alliance partners, in which each party played its designated role in different states, each party contributed to the other...Our determination is that the INDIA group must continue. We must function cohesively and collectively both in parliament and outside,” Kharge said.
The Congress party won 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, while the INDIA bloc together won 234 seats. On the other hand, the BJP won 243 while the NDA won 290 seats.
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