Rahul Gandhi to become Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, his 1st Constitutional role

Rahul Gandhi has been appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said today. Venugopal said the decision on other office bearers will be decided later.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hailed the decision, saying 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.

"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 said in a post on X.


"The Congress party is strongly committed to protect Democracy and the Constitution, by upholding its eternal principles of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity," Kharge also said.

Several leaders lauded and thanked Rahul Gandhi for accepting the position and hoped he would remain the voice of people in Parliament by raising their issues.

"We are confident that as LOP, Rahul ji will be a bold voice for the common people of India and ensure that the NDA government is held firmly accountable at all times," Venugopal later said in a post on X.

First LoP in 10 Years
Notably, this is the first time in ten years that the Lok Sabha will have a Leader of Opposition. In the previous two Lok Sabha terms, Congress was the largest opposition party but it did not have the requisite numbers, which is one-tenth of the strength of the House. In the 16th Lok Sabha, the Congress had 44 MPs, while in the 17th Lok Sabha it had 55. But this time, the Congress party has 99 MPs - the highest number of MPs among the opposition parties.


The post of LoP was not recognised till 1969, when Ram Subhag Singh became the first recognised LoP of the Lok Sabha.

The post received statutory recognition through the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 which defines the term 'Leader of the Opposition' as that member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha who, for the time being, is the leader of that House of the party in opposition to the government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised, as such, by the chairman of the Rajya Sabha or the speaker of the Lok Sabha.



Rahul Gandhi's First Constitutional Role
As the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi will be holding any constitutional position for the first time since his entry into politics in 2004 when he won for the first time from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

He would now get the status of a cabinet minister's rank. This will also enhance his position in the protocol list and could be a natural claimant to the post of prime minister of the opposition bloc. Gandhi as the LoP of Lok Sabha would also be a member of important panels on key appointments of Lokpal, CBI chief, Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, besides the selection of Central Vigilance Commission, the Central Information Commission and the NHRC chief. The prime minister heads all such panels.

The 54-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family has been an MP for five terms and currently represents the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha, previously held by his mother Sonia Gandhi. He took oath as an MP on Tuesday while holding a copy of the Constitution.

Though he won from two constituencies - Wayanad in Kerala and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, he resigned from the Wayanad constituency, from where his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would now contest.