(Image source from: x.com/INCIndia)

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body, on Saturday passed a resolution appointing Rahul Gandhi as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. During the party's long CWC meeting, the newly elected members unanimously asked Rahul Gandhi to lead the opposition in Sabah. “The CWC has unanimously asked Rahul Gandhi to take over as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi is the best person to lead this campaign in the Congress,” he said at a press conference after the meeting. When Congress general secretary in-charge KC Venugopal was asked about his opinion on the election of Rahul Gandhi as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, he said he would decide on it soon. Earlier in the day, even Rahul Gandhi said he needed time to think before taking a decision. This is the first time the Congress has won the post of opposition leader in Sabah since its ouster in 2014. It has been unable to achieve this position in the last decade, winning less than 10% of the total seats in the House of Representatives in 2014 and 2019.

Several senior Congress leaders, including Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. DK Siva Kumar said, “We want Rahul Gandhi as Leader of Opposition in Parliament. Rahul Gandhi told us today that we have to win the hearts of those who did not vote for us." Shashi Tharoor called Rahul Gandhi the "man of the match" for the Lok Sabha elections and said the position should definitely go to the most popular Party leaders leave. "Rahul Gandhi and Congress president (Mallikarjun) Kharg have been campaigning extensively across the country, but Mr Kharg is leading the opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Rahul Gandhi is doing the same in the Lok Sabha," Tharoor said publicly and privately. A meeting of the Congress working committee was held to review the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls and discuss future course. This came a day after the NDA held a massive rally to elect Congress leader Narendra Modi.

The talks were attended by Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and President Mallikarjun Kharg along with Manish Thawari, DK Shivakumar, Ravanath Reddy and other leaders. In a press conference after the meeting, KC Venugopal said that 32 of the 37 leaders, including permanent and special members, were present at the meeting. Meanwhile, a meeting of the Congress party will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the central hall of the National Council, tweeted party leader Jiram Ramesh. Mallikarjun Kharge will also host a dinner for all senior CWC members and party officials at Hotel Ashok. Although the Congress did not perform well in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, it improved its performance and won 99 seats. This placed him in second place behind the BJP, which won 240 seats as a single party in the 2024 Sabah state elections. The India bloc outperformed expectations, winning 234 seats, while the NDA won 293 seats.