Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday officially recognized Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of the Opposition, following the Congress party’s formal communication of his nomination to the Lok Sabha Secretariat a day earlier. A notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat confirmed that Gandhi has been acknowledged as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha effective from June 9. Notably, the Rae Bareli MP received this recognition under Section 2 of the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.
Rahul Gandhi thanks Kharge
Gandhi, who earlier in the day joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju in escorting the newly-elected Birla to the speaker’s chair, thanked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for his appointment to the role. “I thank Congress president @kharge ji, and all the Congress leaders and ‘babbar sher’ karyakartas from across the country for their overwhelming support and warm wishes. Together, we will raise the voice of every Indian in Parliament, protect our Constitution, and hold the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government accountable for their actions,” Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi congratulates Om Birla
Rahul Gandhi, along with other Opposition MPs, also congratulated Om Birla on his election as Speaker of the Lok Sabha for a second term. They expressed hopes that they would be permitted to effectively represent the people’s voice in the House and that incidents like the suspension of MPs would not occur again. Although the Opposition had proposed a contest for the Speaker’s position by nominating K Suresh against Birla, the latter was elected through a voice vote. Following the announcement of Birla’s election, Gandhi personally congratulated him on the floor of the House.
Rahul Gandhi as LoP
It should be mentioned here that 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.
(With PTI inputs)