Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, was named Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Congress chairman Mallikarjun Kharge applauded the move and stated that Rahul Gandhi will serve as the voice of the last person standing in the House of People.
The Congress announced on Tuesday that Rahul Gandhi, the party’s Raebareli MP, will serve as the 18th Lok Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition, breaking the previous 10-year record of not having a LoP in the Lower House since 2014.
“In the 18th Lok Sabha, the House of the People shall truly reflect the aspirations of the last person standing, with Rahul Gandhi becoming their voice,” Kharge wrote in a post on X.
He went on to say that he was confident in Rahul Gandhi and that he would make the people’s voice heard.
“As Congress President, I am confident that a leader who has traversed the length and breadth of the country from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, and from Manipur to Maharashtra shall raise the voice of the people — especially the marginalised and the poor,” he stated.
“Protect Democracy and the Constitution, by upholding its eternal principles of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity,” the Congress chief reaffirmed the party’s position.
Interestingly, no political party—apart from the ruling party—was able to win the requisite number of Lok Sabha seats needed to designate a Leader of the Opposition, which is why there hasn’t been a Leader of the Opposition in the last ten years.
With 52 seats, the Congress became the second-largest party in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. This was three less than what was needed. The Congress, which is once again the second-largest party, received 44 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 elections, which is far less than expected.
The Congress increased its total to 100 from 52 in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, making it the second-largest party after the polls in 2024. The INDIA bloc has a total of 234 members.
One day prior to the Lok Sabha Speaker election, Rahul Gandhi announced his candidacy.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi emerged victorious from both the Raebareli and Wayanad Lok Sabha constituencies. While Rahul Gandhi defeated Communist Party of India candidate Annie Raja in Wayanad with a margin of 364422 votes, he defeated Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli with a margin of 390030 votes.
However, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge confirmed Priyanka Gandhi’s candidacy from Wayanad last week following Rahul Gandhi’s announcement that he will resign as an MP from Wayanad and retain the Raebareli constituency.
Three Nehru-Gandhi family members will be in parliament if Priyanka Gandhi defeats Wayanad: Sonia Gandhi in the Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, and Priyanka Gandhi in the Rajya Sabha.
Gandhi had already taken the oath of office as a member of parliament while holding a copy of the Constitution.
The person who holds the most seats in the Lok Sabha—that is, the head of the main opposition party—is acknowledged as the leader of the opposition.
Important committees that he will serve on include Estimates, Public Undertakings, Public Accounts (Chairman), and many Joint Parliamentary Committees.
