Congress announcement on Rahul Gandhi as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. (ETV Bharat) New Delhi : Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was named As Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. He will lead the INDIA bloc offensive against the ruling BJP-led NDA in the Lower House.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote to Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, informing him of the decision to make Rahul Gandhi the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal, addressing mediapersons.
The decision on Rahul Gandhi's appointment as the Leader of Opposition in the Lower House was made after the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc held a meeting at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
Rahul Gandhi is no more a reluctant politician and will lead the INDIA bloc from the front to corner the NDA government both inside and outside the Parliament, senior Congress functionaries said on Tuesday shortly after the Rae Bareli MP was named the Leader of the Opposition.
“Indeed, it is a very happy and proud moment for all of us in the Congress. We had been urging him to take that role and now it is done. This is a very important moment for the INDIA bloc as well. I am happy that Rahul Gandhi led the party. He will now lead the opposition grouping inside the Lok Sabha,” Lok Sabha MP Praniti Shinde told ETV Bharat.
Though Rahul had been a vice president and later president of the Congress from 2027 to 2019, he never held a Constitutional post in his career as a parliamentarian that started in 2004.
Rahul who first entered the Lok Sabha in 2004 from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, represented the family bastion till 2019 when he lost the seat but was elected from the Wayanad seat in Kerala.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls he got elected from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad but kept Rae Bareli to focus on his home state UP.
According to Shinde, a first time Lok Sabha MP from Solapur and a working president of the Maharashtra Congress, Rahul had been humiliated in the past by his political rivals but rose like a phoenix in the 2024.
“The BJP leaders used to target Rahul Gandhi by saying that he was a reluctant politician and avoided taking responsibility but now the saffron party would realize their mistake. I think the BJP and PM Modi have already realized their mistake of ridiculing Rahul Gandhi all these years. He shattered that negative image during the two nationwide yatras and later when he led the Congress in the 2024 national polls. He is no longer a reluctant politician. I am sure he will prove to be a very good LoP and keep the government on its toes,” said Shinde.
“He will lead the Congress and the united opposition to victory in the 2029 Lok Sabha polls when there will be an INDIA bloc government. Of course, we would like to see him as the Prime Minister then,” she said.
Rahul’s tenure as LoP in the Lok Sabha would be an aggressive one, said Shinde, adding that the party’s 99 MPs, along with that of the INDIA bloc parties would keep the NDA government on its toes.
“You will see us attacking the government from the front and raising issues related to the people that the Modi administration brushed aside over the past 10 years. We are setting the narrative now and the BJP is reacting to it. Over the coming days, we will ensure the NDA is made accountable in the House,” said Shinde.
According to AICC in charge UP Avinash Pande, Rahul becoming the LoP in the Lok Sabha would send a very positive message in the state which sends 80 MPs to the House.
“It is a very happy moment for us. The way he led the party in the national polls made us believe that he should lead in the House as well. That has happened now. I think it will be a big booster to the Congress and the SP alliance in the state. Our alliance played a key role in limiting the BJP to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha, 32 short of simple majority. We will further strengthen the alliance to take on the BJP ahead of the 2027 assembly polls. Rahul Gandhi retaining the Rae Bareli seat was a good move and now the LoP decision will further push the Congress in UP and other northern states as well,” Pande told ETV Bharat.
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