Rahul Gandhi to be the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, YSRCP to Support Om Birla

NEW DELHI, June 25: Taking the fight to the ruling BJP-led NDA, Rahul Gandhi has accepted a decision by the Congress Working Committee and will take up the mantle of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. 

The decision comes hours before the first big battle of the 18th Lok Sabha, between a resurgent opposition and a diminished ruling coalition, over the post of Speaker the elections for which is scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

While the NDA has re-nominated the speaker of the last Lok Sabha Om Birla for the post again, the opposition INDIA bloc after being refused the post of the deputy speaker, has fielded the veteran Congress member K Suresh for the post setting up a contest for the post did not happen for decades.

Numerically, the NDA is in much better position to get its nominee elected as the speaker and it received a further boost on Tuesday when the YSRCP party from Andhra Pradesh decided to extend support to the NDA candidate.

The YSRCP which was badly routed by the NDA partners of the BJP and the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) in both the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly elections held simultaneously, has surprisingly decided to stand by its rivals in the speaker’s elections. In the last House, the YSRCP, then the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh, had often supported the BJP government, particularly during the critical phases. It currently has only four members in the Lok Sabha.

(Manas Dasgupta)