Rahul Gandhi Named Leader Of Opposition In Lok Sabha Ahead Of Key Election For Speaker

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to be the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha.

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi has written to protem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, informing him that her son Rahul Gandhi has been appointed the Leader of Opposition in the Lower House of the Parliament.

"CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji has written to the Pro-Tem Speaker informing him that Sh. Rahul Gandhi ji is appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha," Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said in a post on X.

"We are confident that as LOP, Rahul ji will be a bold voice for the common people of India and ensure that the NDA government is held firmly accountable at all times," Venugopal added.

The decision comes ahead of the election for the Lok Sabha speaker post on Wednesday, marking a rare event in the history of the Lower House of the Parliament.

The NDA has decided to nominate Om Birla for the Speaker position again.

Meanwhile, the opposition INDI Alliance bloc has fielded K Suresh against Birla.

A Lok Sabha Speaker is elected by a simple majority of MPs voting, and all speakers until now have been elected with consensus.

The BJP, with substantial majorities after the 2014 and 2019 elections, faced no challenge in nominating Sumitra Mahajan and Om Birla to the post.

This time, however, the BJP does not have the numbers as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party holds 240 seats in Parliament, falling 32 short of a majority, thus relying on allies like Nitish Kumar's JDU and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP to remain in power.

Also Read: INDI Alliance Breaks Tradition, Fields K Suresh Against NDA's Om Birla For Lok Sabha Speaker