NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was appointed leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, a crucial post that had remained vacant during both terms of the Modi government.

Signalling a robust challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fragile coalition, Mr Gandhi shook hands with him and with Speaker Om Birla before addressing the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, Mr Birla was re-elected to the post on Wednesday by a voice vote. The fact that the opposition had put up its candidate to contest Mr Birla but did not force a division of votes was described by opposition MPs as a tactical retreat and not a defeat.

Mr Gandhi congratulated the speaker, and assured him of the opposition’s support but also pushed for the side’s opinions to be heard. “It is very important that cooperation happens on the basis of trust. It is very important that the voice of the opposition is allowed to be represented in this house,” he said.

Shakes hands with Modi, wants Lok Sabha to function ‘often and well’

As opposition leader, Mr Gandhi will be part of high-profile committees headed by the prime minister. These committees are responsible for appointing key posts such as the director of India’s top crime investigation agency and members of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

He said the opposition wanted the house to function “often and well” and added that it was very important that cooperation happens with trust.

Since 2014, no opposition party had won 10 per cent or 55 of the 543 seats required to claim the post, but Congress took 99 seats in the recent general election.

The Congress party said Mr Gandhi would ensure the government was held to account at all times.

On Wednesday, Mr Gandhi made his first appearance in parliament in his new role and wore a white khadi kurta and pyjama instead of his regular t-shirt.

Pointing out that this time the opposition represents significantly more voices of the Indian people than last time, Mr Gandhi stressed that it was very important that the voice of opposition is allowed to be represented in the house.

“I am confident that you will allow us to represent our voice, allow us to speak, to represent the voice of people of India.”

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2024