Congress Working Committee passes resolution to appoint Rahul Gandhi as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha

Members of the Congress Working Committee have passed a resolution calling for Rahul Gandhi to be appointed as the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. The unanimous request came days after the senior politician won the Wayanad and Raebareli seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

“All participants unanimously passed the resolution that Rahul Gandhi should take the position of leader of opposition in the parliament. Rahul ji is the best person to lead this campaign inside the Parliament," KC Venugopal told the media.

“We are working on why we got fewer seats in some states. Their claim of 'Congress mukt' has failed and the country has now become 'Congress yukt' again," added Congress leader Ajay Rai.

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The nomination will be put before a meeting of the 232 lawmakers belonging to a Congress-led opposition alliance later on Saturday. 

“Rahul Gandhi told the CWC that he will take a decision very soon (on becoming the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha),” said Congress leader KC Venugopal.

The Congress defied analyst expectations to secure 99 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections — becoming eligible to hold the LoP role for the first time since 2014. No Opposition party had managed to secure the role in the past 10 years as their tallies were below the requisite 10% of total seats in the House.

Reports indicate that the party also deliberated on its Lok Sabha election performance and strategies for strengthening the organisation during the meeting. The CWC decided to set up separate committees to review its performance in all states — including those ruled by the party — where the performance was lower than expected.

(With inputs from agencies)