Increasing pressure on Rahul Gandhi to become the Leader of the Opposition, will Priyanka take up the electoral role?

New Delhi: These days, the demand within Congress is growing rapidly that former Congress President Rahul Gandhi should take the role of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. In fact, despite being the largest opposition party, Congress could not even get 10 percent seats in the last two Lok Sabhas, due to which it did not get the status of Leader of Opposition. This time the party has got 99 seats. After this, Congress has a claim for the post of Leader of Opposition. There is a consensus within Congress that Rahul Gandhi should become the Leader of Opposition. Recently, from the Congress Working Committee meeting to the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, all the leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge unanimously placed their demand in front of Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi has asked for some time to think on this demand. The party has left the decision regarding the post of Leader of Opposition completely to Rahul Gandhi. However, regarding Rahul Gandhi becoming the Leader of Opposition, there is a belief within the party that now the time has come that Rahul Gandhi should come forward and lead the party. A senior leader of the party said that the way Rahul Gandhi led the party during his/her Quit India Yatra, the party wants him/her to lead the party in the same way in the Lok Sabha. The party believes that Rahul Gandhi is the first choice for the Leader of the Opposition and this is a great opportunity for him/her to come into the leadership role.

What is going on inside the party?

Another party leader said that there is a strong opinion within the party that Rahul Gandhi should become the leader of the opposition and raise people’s issues in the House like his/her father and former PM Rajiv Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi. he/she said that just as he/she raised ground issues related to the common man with full force from Bharat Jodo Yatra to the current elections, similarly he/she should now become the voice of the common man in the House.

This discussion is about Rahul

The source said that the India tours have made Rahul Gandhi an undisputed mass leader, whose strength is being acknowledged by the allies as well as the ruling party and the country, but after becoming the leader of the opposition, the thinking of those people will also change, who somewhere still feel uncomfortable about Rahul Gandhi. However, amid such discussions about Rahul Gandhi, the media is trying to corner him/her by presenting the account of Rahul Gandhi’s parliamentary performance. It is worth noting that the first parliamentary session of the 18th Lok Sabha is going to start from June 24. It is believed that the picture may become clear regarding this issue in the next few days. If Rahul does not accept this role, then leaders like Manish Tiwari, Gaurav Gogoi within the party can be contenders for this post.

Rahul in dilemma between Amethi and Rae Bareli

In the recent elections, Rahul Gandhi has won from Rae Bareli, his/her family’s traditional seat in Uttar Pradesh, as well as Wayanad in Kerala. In the coming days, he/she will have to leave one of these two seats. However, Rahul Gandhi has not yet clarified which seat he/she will leave. Recently, in his/her thanksgiving meetings in both Rae Bareli and Wayanad, he/she had mentioned the dilemma he/she was having regarding both the seats in front of the people. Rahul Gandhi said that whatever decision he/she will take, he/she will take the voters there into confidence.

Will Rahul leave Rae Bareli seat?

It is believed that Rahul Gandhi may leave the Wayanad seat while keeping Rae Bareli. The argument within the party regarding Rae Bareli is that the Gandhi family has had a continuous relationship with Rae Bareli for the last 70 years and with Amethi for the last four and a half decades. If Rahul leaves this seat, then somewhere the decades-old relationship of the Gandhi family will be lost. On the other hand, there is also an argument that after the year 2009, Congress has performed so well in UP. In 2009, Congress had got 21 seats, whereas in the last two times, Congress, which had won two and one seat respectively in UP, has won six seats this time. Congress, which is struggling to increase its vote base in UP, would not want to disappoint the people of UP by leaving Rae Bareli.

Will Priyanka contest elections from Wayanad?

On the other hand, there is a discussion about Wayanad that if Rahul leaves this seat, then Priyanka Gandhi can contest elections from here. The reasoning behind this is that a good way to remove the resentment among the local people due to Rahul leaving Wayanad would be to field a member of the Gandhi family from there. It is said that this suggestion has come from the Kerala unit of Congress. However, Priyanka’s decision to enter electoral politics depends entirely on the Gandhi family.