Rahul Gandhi becoming their voice, says Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge

Amid ongoing Parliament session Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday praised the appointment of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as Leader of the Opposition LoP in Lok Sabha and said that the House of the People shall truly reflect the aspirations of the last person standing with Rahul Gandhi becoming their voiceCongress on Tuesday declared that Rahul Gandhi partys MP from Raebareli will be Leader of the Opposition in the 18th Lok Sabha ending the 10year spell of no LoP in the Lower House since 2014 In the 18th Lok Sabha the House of the People shall truly reflect the aspirations of the last person standing with Rahul Gandhi becoming their voice Kharge posted on XHe further expressed his confidence in Rahul Gandhi and said that he would raise the voice of the people in the Parliament session As Congress President I am confident that a leader who has traversed the length and breadth of the country from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and from Manipur to Maharashtra shall raise the voice of the people especially the marginalised and the poor he addedThe Congress chief reiterated the partys commitment to protect Democracy and the Constitution by upholding its eternal principles of Justice Liberty Equality and Fraternity Notably Lok Sabha did not have a Leader of the Opposition in the last 10 years because no political party other than the ruling party was able to secure the minimum Lok Sabha seats required to nominate a Leader of the OppositionIn the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections the Congress emerged as the secondlargest party with 52 seats This was three short of the requisite numbers In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls the Congress again the second largest party won 44 Lok Sabha seats way below the mark After the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls the Congress emerged as the secondlargest party in the election and improved its tally to 100 from 52 in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll The total tally of the INDIA bloc stood at 234 reported ANIThe announcement of Rahul Gandhi as LoP comes a day before the election for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker Rahul Gandhi won from both Raebareli and Wayanad Lok Sabha constituencies in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls While Rahul Gandhi won with a margin of 364422 votes from Wayanad defeating Communist Party of Indias Annie Raja in Raebareli he won with a margin of 390030 votes from Raebareli defeating Bharatiya Janata Partys Dinesh Pratap Singh reported ANIHowever after Rahul Gandhi announced that he would resign as an MP from Wayanad and will keep the Raebareli constituency Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced Priyanka Gandhis candidature from Wayanad last week If Priyanka Gandhi wins from Wayanad three members of the NehruGandhi family will be in Parliament Sonia Gandhi in Rajya Sabha and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in the Lok Sabha reported ANIEarlier Gandhi took the oath as the Member of Parliament carrying a copy of the Constitution in his hands The leader of the largest opposition party having not less than onetenth seats of the total strength of the Lok Sabha is recognised as the leader of the Opposition He will be a member of crucial committees such as Public Accounts Chairman Public Undertakings Estimates and several Joint Parliamentary Committees reported ANIHe is entitled to be a member of various selection committees responsible for appointing heads of statutory bodies like the Central Vigilance Commission the Central Information Commission the CBI the NHRC and the Lokpal The leader of Opposition in both Houses was accorded statutory recognition under the Salaries and Allowances of Leader of Opposition in Parliament Act 1977 and is entitled to the salary allowances and other facilities equivalent to that of a cabinet ministerWith inputs from ANI