The Congress Working Committee on Saturday passed a unanimous resolution to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Gandhi said that he would consider the proposal and take a decision soon, reported The Indian Express.
The leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha is the parliamentary chairperson of the largest party, or coalition of parties, with the most seats after the party that forms the government. Members of that Opposition party select the legislator for the post.
The Congress won 99 Lok Sabha seats on Tuesday. It later increased its tally to 100 seats after the independent candidate who won from Maharashtra’s Sangli constituency, Vishal Patil, extended his support to the party.
The Congress is part of the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties that has a total of 233 Lok Sabha seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance will form the next government at the Centre with 292 seats. The Hindutva party has won an unexpectedly low 240 seats.
After the Congress Working Committee meeting on Saturday, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal told reporters that Gandhi was the “best person” to lead the party’s campaign focusing on unemployment, inflation and social justice.
“The entire CWC feels that in the current scenario of Indian politics for a better and a strong vigilant Opposition, and those who want to protect the Constitution would be safe under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition,” Venugopal added.
Gandhi had contested the polls from Kerala’s Wayanad and Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli and won from both seats.
The Congress Working Committee also credited Gandhi for leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, two large-scale outreach programmes for which he travelled across the country in the run-up to the polls.
Venugopal added that the results of the Lok Sabha polls have energised Congress workers and leaders.
“The atmosphere in the CWC is entirely different than what it was four months ago,” he said. “Our workers are charged, our leaders are charged. Now the revival of the Congress party has started.”
“Even after election also when the exit poll came we found that it was a different kind of election,” Venugopal said. “We had to fight against exit polls also. There were attempts to divert the entire agenda of Congress and INDIA alliance to divisive politics.”
Venugopal emphasised that the BJP had just one political agenda, which is to divide the people of India.
At the meeting, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party has seen an increase in its vote share and seat share in areas that were covered by the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“Other than this, we saw an increase in seats dominated by Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Class, and minority voters in rural areas,” the Rajya Sabha MP said. “Going forward, we have to make our presence felt in urban areas as well.”
He added that as the party celebrates its revival, it should also pause and think about its poor performance in some major states. “We could not repeat our performance in states where we had previously done well in Vidhan Sabha elections and formed the government,” Kharge said.
Later on Saturday, Sonia Gandhi was unanimously elected as the Congress parliamentary party chairperson on Saturday.
The former Congress president congratulated her party’s newly-elected MPs for fighting a “tough election under the most challenging of circumstances”.
“Your success has given us a much greater presence in the Lok Sabha and a more effective voice in its proceedings, both of which will help give greater strength to our participation,” she said. “The Indian National Congress has once again demonstrated its resilience. It was up against a mighty and malevolent machine that was doing its utmost to destroy us.”
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!