With the meeting of the newly-elected Lok Sabha Congress MPs for the first time after Lok Sabha elections debacle, the Congress on Saturday elected Sonia Gandhi as the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP). The meeting was attended by all 52 elected MPs. Her name was proposed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Now the newly elected Congress lawmakers’ chairperson has the task to name the leader of the party in parliament, with the possibility of either Rahul Gandhi or some other member being given the job. Rahul, who is adamant on his resignation despite party workers’ support, might lead the party in parliament, say sources
Congress President Rahul Gandhi at the Parliamentary meet said the 52 lawmakers of the party will fight the BJP every day as they have the responsibility to fight for every single Indian. He asked the leaders to be more aggressive in their approach when they combat the BJP. Rahul and the elected MPs in the Congress Parliamentary meeting also deliberated about party’s future course of action to stay as a challenging opposition.
Following Congress’s humiliating rout in the recently-concluded election, Rahul had been adamant to resign and continue as a party worker. His decision has not been supported by party workers as they want Rahul to stay firm and prove his worth. Several veteran leaders with the likes of Lalu Prasad Yadav, P.Chidamabaram, Shashi Tharoor have come out in Rahul’s support and said the Congress President has taken the Lok Sabha loss on his chin.
Though all this while Rahul had been sticking by his words as he reiterated to desert the party leadership. Congress workers in other parts of the country have been protesting against Rahul’s decision to not continue as chief while some, in fact, headed to Delhi to show their support for him. Leaders like Jagdish Tytler, Sheila Dixit, Vijender Singh have been constantly trying to persuade him not to give up the post, some, in fact, called it a trap set by BJP against Gandhi and the Congress party.
