Congress Parliamentary Party meeting held on Saturday at the Central Hall of the Parliament and unanimously re-elected former party President and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson. Her name was proposed by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, followed by party leaders Gaurav Gogoi, Tariq Anwar and K Sudhakaran.
The meeting was attended by several other party leaders including, Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor, Ajay Maken, Karti Chidambaram and Punjab’s former CM Charanjit Singh Channi, among others.
After her re-election, Sonia Gandhi said that it is a renewed opportunity for them to establish parliamentary democracy in the country and bring parliamentary politics back on track. She added that PM Modi has lost the mandate he sought and thereby has lost the right to leadership as well.
“Far from taking responsibility for failure, he intends to get himself sworn in again tomorrow”, she added. Speaking about Sonia Gandhi’s re-election, Kharge said, “It is good she (Sonia Gandhi) has been re-elected as CPP and she will keep guiding us.” He added that she sacrificed her happiness to serve the party.
Party General Secretary (Organization) K C Venugopal said “The country knows about the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. Now there will be a very strong opposition in the country. Certainly, the leadership of Sonia Gandhi will give extra energy to all of us.”
Meanwhile, party sources said party leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to retain the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh and he may quit the Wayanad constituency. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) today (June 8) passed a resolution to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the 18th Lok Sabha.
“As for vacating either the Wayanad or Raebareli seat, the decision will be taken on or before June 17. It’s obvious that one can hold only one seat. Both the seats are very close to him. So the decision will be made soon,” said KC Venugopal.
The Congress leaders from Kerala have been pressing Rahul Gandhi to retain Wayanad, despite speculation that the party might field Priyanka Gandhi from the seat if her brother decides to vacate it. On the other hand, there are pressures to retain Raebareli seat so as to improve the party’s prospects in electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh.