Rahul Gandhi has taken the bull by the horns.

The Congress MP from Rae Bareli will be the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the 18th Lok Sabha. Rahul, who contested from two seats, has given up Wayanad that his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest.

The decision was announced late on Tuesday evening after Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi sent a formal intimation to pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab.

Four days after the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had unanimously favoured Rahul as LoP in the Lok Sabha — a post that has remained vacant for the past decade as no party had the necessary numbers for it.

The five-time MP had sought time to consider the CWC resolution urging him to become the LoP, which will pin him down in the capital when Parliament is in session.

There was the added consideration of how many INDIA bloc parties would accept his lead. Till now, INDIA meetings in Parliament have been happening in Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge’s office. Given his age and seniority, Kharge’s leadership in this regard was easier to accept for parties such as the Trinamool Congress, which consistently maintains that it is not an electoral ally of the Congress.

The LoP in the Lok Sabha will not only have to carry the rest of the Opposition along, but will also be a member of various selection committees to pick heads of institutions such as the Lokpal, CBI, Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Information Commission along with the Prime Minister.

AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said the announcement on the other office-bearers in the Lok Sabha, including deputy leader and whips, would be made in due course.

‘Bharat Jodo’ chants

Rahul took oath as a member of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid loud chants of “Bharat Jodo” as he held up a pocket edition of the Constitution with a red cover.

On Monday, Rahul had waved the same copy of the Constitution at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah as they took oath.

It was widely expected that Rahul would be heckled in a tit-for-tat action, but the BJP members watched quietly as he took oath in English and signed off with the slogan “Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan (Constitution)”.

One possible reason could be that none of the top ministers or leaders was
present in the House to send out a signal to their flock to take on Rahul. Only one BJP member from the back rows was heard shouting something but by then Rahul had finished taking oath and was preparing to sign the House register.

The intensity and the punch of the “Bharat Jodo” chants and the thumping of desks mostly by Congress members appeared to be an effort to outdo the applause Modi had received a day earlier while taking oath. Rahul had undertaken two rounds of Bharat Jodo Yatra across the country and the Congress members appeared to be hailing him for it, seeking to link the party’s improved poll performance to the Yatras.

Rahul was elected from two seats — Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and Wayanad in Kerala — and he has chosen to retain the former. Wayanad, vacated by him, will now be contested by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Rahul sought to reach out to the ruling side too, though from a distance, and was seen greeting the members with folded hands after signing the House register. He not only shook hands with Faggan Singh Kulhaste, who was on the Chair as a member of the designated panel to assist pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, but also some of the watch-and-ward staff of the House.

Rahul and many others, mostly Congress and Samajwadi Party members, took oath with a copy of the Constitution in hand. The oath-taking coincided with the 49th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency and Modi used it to slam the Congress in a series of posts on X. “Those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution,” Modi wrote.

Before taking oath, Rahul was seen holding an intense discussion with Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s second in command after Mamata Banerjee. The two sat in the front row and talked for nearly half an hour, joined by Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal. Rahul was seen repeatedly gesturing with his hand, possibly to emphasise his point as Abhishek listened quietly.

It was widely perceived that Rahul could be trying to seek the Trinamool Congress’s support for K. Suresh’s candidature for the Speaker’s post. Trinamool is learnt to be upset for “not being consulted” before the Opposition decided to pit Suresh against the NDA’s Om Birla. Trinamool has not signed Suresh’s nomination papers.

Wednesday’s election for the Speaker’s post will make it clear whether Rahul has succeeded in securing Trinamool’s support.