June 26, 2024
NEW DELHI – India is all set to get its first leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, the lower House of parliament, in a decade as Congress tonight appointed Rahul Gandhi to that post.
The post of the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha had been vacant for ten years following dismal election results for Congress, once India’s dominant party, in the national elections in 2014 and 2019, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
In recent parliamentary polls, however, Rahul, 54, led Congress to an unexpected resurgence by nearly doubling its parliamentary numbers from 52 in 2019 to 99, its best result since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was swept to power a decade ago.
Parliamentary rules require the opposition leader come from a party that commands at least 10 percent of the lawmakers in the 543-seat Lok Sabha.
The announcement of Rahul’s appointment as the leader of the opposition was made to the media by Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal after a meeting of floor leaders of opposition parties.
He said Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has written to the Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, informing him that Rahul Gandhi has been appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Rahul’s appointment comes a day before the start of the first session of the new Lok Sabha tomorrow.