Sonia to head CPP again, CWC favours Rahul as LoP

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, June 8

Sonia Gandhi was re-elected chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) hours after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) initiated a move to make Rahul Gandhi the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha.

A general body meeting of Congress members from both Houses of Parliament on Saturday re-elected Sonia as CPP chairperson. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, proposed Sonia’s name for the post. The proposal was seconded by Gaurav Gogoi, Tariq Anwar and K Sudhakaran.

Earlier today, a meeting of the extended CWC was held. Besides CWC members, it was attended by PCC chiefs and leaders of the party in state assemblies. The committee unanimously requested Rahul to take up the LoP’s post in the Lok Sabha. Rahul, who has been elected from Rae Bareli as well as Wayanad, promised to soon take a call on the issue. Rahul had spurned the offer of leading the Congress in the last two Lok Sabhas. However, this time the situation is different as the Congress has the requisite strength in the lower House to make a bid for the post which has its own perks and prestige. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said Sonia would name the floor leaders of the party in both Houses of Parliament. After being re-elected, Sonia, who is now a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, told the Congress MPs that she was acutely conscious of the great responsibility entrusted to her by them.

The CPP chairperson congratulated the newly elected members of the Lok Sabha for the fighting the elections under most challenging circumstances. Stating that Congress was up against a “mighty and malevolent machine which tried to cripple the party financially”, she said it was because of the deft leadership of Kharge that the Congress could navigate through the crisis.

“Many wrote our obituaries. But under the determined leadership of Kharge ji we persevered. He is an inspiration to all of us. His commitment to the organisation is truly extraordinary and we all have to learn from him,” Sonia said.

She also heaped praise on Rahul and said the two yatras led by him rejuvenated the party workers at all levels.

“Rahul deserves special thanks for his tenacity and determination to fight on in the face of unprecedented personal and political attacks. He also shaped our narrative on guarantees and protection of the Constitution very sharply,” Sonia said.