- Monday, July 01, 2024
The 54-year-old former president of the Indian National Congress is the third member from his politically influential family to become the leader of the opposition, after parents Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi.
By: Shubham Ghosh
RAHUL GANDHI, former president of the Indian National Congress, the country’s main opposition party, on Wednesday (26) said after taking over as the leader of opposition that the speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Lower House of the parliament is the final arbiter of the voice of the people and the opposition this time represents that voice significantly more this time.
He said this after Om Birla, an MP from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was elected as the speaker for the second successive time following a rare election since the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) could not reach a consensus.
Sporting an all white kurta and pajama, the 54-year-old leader said while congratulating the speaker, “The opposition would like to assist you in doing your work. We would like the House to function. It is very important that cooperation happens on the basis of trust. It is very important that the voice of the Opposition is allowed to be represented in this House.”
Read: Om Birla becomes speaker of India’s Lok Sabha for second time
Gandhi, who accompanied prime minister Narendra Modi and parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju to escort the newly elected speaker to his chair, said he would like to congratulate the speaker on behalf of the INDIA alliance.
I would like to congratulate the Speaker on behalf of the INDIA Alliance.
This house represents the voice of India’s people and you are the final arbitrator of the voice.
Of course, the government has political power but the Opposition also represents the voice of India’s youth… pic.twitter.com/RXSdjikLXB
— Congress (@INCIndia) June 26, 2024
He also said while the government has political power, the opposition represents the voice of the country’s youth.
“The question is not how efficiently the House is running, the question is how much of India’s voice is being allowed to be heard in the House. So the idea, that you can run the House efficiently by silencing the voice of the Opposition is non-democratic. This election has shown that the people of India expect the Opposition to defend the country’s Constitution,” Gandhi said.
Read: India’s Lok Sabha to witness speaker’s election as consensus fails
The general elections held this year saw PM Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP failing to win a majority on its own and forming the government with the support of its alliance partners in the NDA. The opposition, on the other hand, saw a revival with the Congress alone winning 99 seats, a much better show compared to its 44 and 52 seats won in the 2014 and 2019 elections, respectively. The NDA ended up with 293 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, around 60 seats less than in 2019, while the INDIA led by the Congress got 232 seats.
Gandhi became the third member of his family to become the leader of the opposition. His father and late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had served in the position in 1989-90 after losing the election while his mother Sonia Gandhi was the leader of opposition between 1999 and 2004, when their Congress party was voted back to power.
As the leader of the opposition, Gandhi will be part of the appointment process for key positions and enjoy a cabinet rank.
