Sonia Gandhi Elected Congress Parliamentary Party President
Sonia Gandhi elected as Congress Parliamentary Party Chief
Sonia Gandhi has been elected as the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge proposed Sonia’s name during a meeting of party leaders in the central hall of Parliament. Gaurav Gogoi and Tariq Anwar extended their support.
Earlier, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) was convened. During this meeting, a proposal was also put forward to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha. According to sources, indications from the CWC meeting suggest that Rahul might contest from Rae Bareli after relinquishing his Wayanad seat.
Congress Women’s Wing chief Alka Lamba, while speaking to Bhaskar, expressed that “the Congress party has suffered due to allegations of corruption against big leaders, including Kejriwal, being imprisoned and the fight with Swati Maliwal. We did not form an alliance with AAP in Punjab, which proved beneficial to us.”
CWC Meeting Lasted Until 3 Hours, Demand Raised to Make Rahul Leader of Opposition
The CWC meeting lasted for nearly 3 hours at the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi. During the meeting, party MPs also circulated a resolution to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha. In response, Rahul said, “Give me time to think.” This post has been vacant for the last 10 years.
Opposition Leader’s Position Vacant for 10 Years
The position of the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha has been vacant for the last 10 years. Congress received 44 seats in 2014 and 52 in 2019. After that, Congress received the most seats in the Lok Sabha. Yet, Congress did not secure the position of the opposition leader.
Actually, any party needs at least 10% of the total Lok Sabha seats to claim the position of the opposition leader, meaning Congress needs 54 MPs out of the 543 seats. Currently, Congress has secured 99 seats based on its own strength.
Later, there will be a meeting of Congress Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs in the Central Hall of Parliament. Kharge will also host a dinner at the hotel for party leaders.
On the other hand, in a meeting of newly elected SP MPs in Lucknow, it was decided that SP’s president Akhilesh Yadav will resign from his assembly membership. They will remain an MP from Kannauj. Along with the assembly membership, they will also resign from the position of the opposition leader in Uttar Pradesh.
Today is the fourth day after the Lok Sabha elections results. Therefore, on 9th June, Narendra Modi will go to take oath as Prime Minister for the third time, and the I.N.D.I.A. alliance is also continuing its meeting sessions.