Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is set to assume the role of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, with a formal communication of this decision sent to Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is set to assume the role of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, with a formal communication of this decision sent to Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab. The decision was finalized during a meeting of INDIA bloc floor leaders on Tuesday at Congress chief 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.
He said the decision on other appointments will be decided later.
Breaking 📢📢
Rahul Gandhi is the Leader Of Opposition
: KC Venugopal ji pic.twitter.com/H4oFW9v3Rp
आज कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री और श्री की मौजूदगी में INDIA गठबंधन के फ्लोर लीडर्स की बैठक हुई।
इस बैठक में INDIA गठबंधन के वरिष्ठ नेता मौजूद रहे।
📍 नई दिल्ली pic.twitter.com/wo8bAnPFrZ
Rahul Gandhi, a five-term MP currently representing the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha, took his oath of office on Tuesday while holding a copy of the Constitution.
"I, Rahul Gandhi, having been elected a member of the House of People, do solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, and that I will faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter. Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan," the Gandhi scion said, taking the oath.
After a decade, the Congress party, being the largest opposition party, has secured the position of Leader of the Opposition. In the past two elections, it had fallen short of the required 10 percent of Lok Sabha members to claim this post.
The Constitution booklet has become a common sight in this Parliament session, following a demonstration by MPs of the INDIA Bloc who displayed the booklets yesterday. Numerous Opposition MPs shared photos on social media showing themselves holding the Constitution booklet. In a media interaction, Rahul Gandhi stated that the Opposition will not permit the government to "attack the Constitution".
To counter the Congress' Constitution narrative, the BJP launched a full-scale attack on the main opposition party today. Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top ministers of the NDA government posted on social media to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi's government.
"Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the Emergency. The #DarkDaysOfEmergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India which every Indian respects greatly," the Prime Minister posted on X.
"Just to cling on to power, the then Congress Government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with the Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections," PM Modi added.
"Those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution. These are the same people who have imposed Article 356 on innumerable occasions, got a Bill to destroy press freedom, destroyed federalism and violated every aspect of the Constitution," he said.
The Prime Minister stated that the mindset responsible for imposing the Emergency "is very much alive among the same Party which imposed it". "They hide their disdain for the Constitution through their tokenism but the people of India have seen through their antics and that is why they have rejected them time and again," he said.