Rahul Gandhi to be the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha

Congress on Tuesday (June 25) declared Rahul Gandhi as Leader ofOpposition in the Lok Sabha and sent the letter about the decision to Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab.

The development came after a meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc at Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence.

“Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson (Sonia Gandhi) wrote to Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, informing him of the decision to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha,” senior party leader KC Venugopal told reporters after the meeting in New Delhi.

Venugopal said that the decision on other appointments will be made later.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi took the oath as Lok Sabha MP, carrying a copy of the Constitution.

It is pertinent to note that for almost a decade, the Lok Sabha did not have a Leader of Opposition.

This was because no political party, other than the one that was ruling, secured enough seats required to nominate a Leader of the Opposition.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the Congress emerged as the second-largest party as it had secured 52 seats. This was three short of the required number of constituencies for nominating a leader of opposition.

In the 2014 polls, the Congress won only 44 Lok Sabha seats.

Congress' performance in Lok Sabha polls 2024

Congress put out a stellar show in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections demonstrating outstanding growth in over a decade and defying all that the exit polls and BJP had predicted.

The grand old party won 99 seats, showing a jump in its tally.

Gandhi triumphed in the Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala as he polled 647,445 votes and won by a margin of 364,422.

His closest rival Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India (CPI) garnered 283,023 votes. BJP candidate K Surendran came in third with 141,045 votes, trailing Gandhi by 506,400 votes.

This was in addition to Gandhi's impressive win in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli where he currently holds the highest winning margin in the state. According to Election Commission data, Gandhi defeated BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh by 390,030 votes.

Rahul Gandhi to keep Raebareli constituency

Gandhi last week announced that he would resign as an MP from Wayanad and would keep the Raebareli constituency.

Following this, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge announced Rahul's sister Priyanka Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad.

(With inputs from agencies)