Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been named as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The confirmation came from Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on the 25th of June.
The decision on Rahul Gandhi's appointment as the Leader of Opposition was made after a meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
"Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson (Sonia Gandhi) wrote to Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, informing him of the decision to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha," senior party leader KC Venugopal told reporters after the meeting.
This is the first time since 2014 that the lower house would have a leader of the opposition as no opposition party other than the ruling BJP had secured one-tenth of the total strength of the Lok Sabha, which is 55 seats, according to Parliamentary rules.
The office of the leader of the house is not mentioned in the Constitution but in the Rules of the House.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the Congress emerged as the second-largest party with 52 seats, just three short of the requisite numbers. This time, the Congress secured 99 Lok Seats, comfortably passing the threshold.
He said the decision on other appointments will be decided later.
Rahul Gandhi has been an MP for five terms and currently represents the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha. He took oath as an MP on Tuesday while holding a copy of the Constitution.