Sonia Gandhi elected Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson, Rahul Gandhi likely to assume Leader of Opposition role

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was unanimously elected as the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party on Saturday.  The development came mere hours after the Congress Working Committee passed an resolution seeking the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The newly re-elected MP is expected to take a decision on the matter 'very soon'.

“Kharge ji proposed the appointment of Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson of the CPP during today's meeting. We have unanimously elected her as the chairperson of the CPP. Now the CPP chairperson has to decide about the leader of the Lok Sabha,” said Congress leader Manickam Tagore after the meeting. 

The Lok Sabha has incidentally functioned without a Leader of Opposition since 2014 as no party managed to secure the requisite seats to assume the role. Congress candidates defied analyst expectations during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections — securing 99 seats and becoming eligible to hold the LoP role for the first time since 2014. 

An Opposition party is required to secure at least 10% of the total seats in the House in order to become eligible for the post. 

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“Rahul deserves special thanks for his tenacity, determination to fight unprecedented personal, political attacks. Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra were really historic movements which rejuvenated our party at all levels,” said Sonia Gandhi.

The Rajya Sabha MP was nominated as CPP chairperson by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during the meeting on Saturday evening. The proposal was seconded by party leaders Gaurav Gogoi, Tariq Anwar and K Sudhakaran and eventually passed unanimously.

“Sonia Gandhi ji has been unanimously elected as the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party,” confirmed Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari as the meeting drew to a close.

(With inputs from agencies)