Buoyed by the Lok Sabha election results, the Congress's top decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Saturday urged Rahul Gandhi to take the mantle of the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.
In a resolution adopted by the CWC, party general secretary K C Venugopal said the CWC has requested Rahul Gandhi to take the Leader of the Opposition position in the Lok Sabha. "Rahul Gandhi is the best person to lead this campaign inside the Parliament, this is what the CWC's view was...the entire CWC feels for a better and strong vigilant Opposition, those who want to protect the Constitution also, should be safe under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi as a Leader of Opposition, this is what the CWC resolution is," he said.
"Rahul Gandhi said he respects the sentiments of the CWC members and told them that he would take a decision on it very soon," he told reporters.
On whether Rahul Gandhi will take the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP), Sonia Gandhi said. "You should ask him." To a query on the CWC resolution on LoP, Rahul Gandhi told reporters, "Let us see".
Not just Venugopal, Congress MP from Amethi, Kishori Lal Sharma was another voice who batted for Rahul to take up the office of Leader of the Opposition. He called it a collective desire of the party.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury too expressed his desire for Rahul to helm the opposition in the Parliament. "Everyone unanimously wants Rahul Gandhi to be the LoP.
The CWC had hailed the roles played by Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi during the Lok Sabha polls. The CWC said that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has to be singled out largely because of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that he designed and led.
"Both these Yatras that reflected his own thinking and personality were historic turning points in our nation's politics and instilled hope and confidence in lakhs of our workers and crores of our voters," the resolution said.
"Rahul Gandhi's election campaign was single-minded, sharp and pointed and more than any other individual it was he who made the protection of our republic's Constitution the central issue in the 2024 elections, the CWC said.
(With PTI inputs)
