“Smt. Sonia Gandhi elected as the leader of Congress Parliamentary Party! She says, ‘we thank the 12.13 Cr voters for reposing faith in the Congress Party,” chief spokesperson of the Congress party Randeep Surjewala announced on Twitter.
Ms. Gandhi will now pick the Floor Leader for Lok Sabha. There has been speculation that Rahul Gandhi, who resigned from the post of party president, may opt for this position. In outgoing Lok Sabha, the position was held by Karnataka MP Mallikarjun Kharge. Mr. Kharge was defeated in 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Gulbarga constituency.
During the meeting Mr. Gandhi thanked the voters and the Congress workers. “Every Congress member must remember that each one of you is fighting for the Constitution, for every person in India irrespective of the color of his skin or belief,” Mr. Gandhi said.
With 52 MPs, the post of Leader of Opposition remains elusive again for the Congress. As per the norm, the Opposition party that has the strength of at least 10% of the House gets the position. With 545 member in Lower House, the party that has 55 members is eligible for the position. The Congress is three short of this figure.
The other front-runner for the Floor Leader post is three time MP Shashi Tharoor.
The Floor Leader sets the agenda for his party in the House, decides the parliamentary strategy and also coordinates between the other Opposition parties and the government on behalf of his party.