New Delhi (26.06.2024):  The buoyant Congress that stopped the BJP chariot with a fractured mandate in 2024 Lok Sabha elections and managed to get 99 seats to become a recognised party to claim the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha with the I.N.D.I.A. having 234 seats. The party is trying to appear confident enough to take on the NaMO 3.0 government on every issue. The PM, Rahul Gandhi and Parliamentary affairs minister in the same frame while congratulating newly elected Speaker Om Birla tells the tale.

A confident Rahul Gandhi having nation-wide appeal with newly strategized aggression has put the ruling dispensation on the backfoot ever since the government took over for the third consecutive term but it appears as if the NDA has lost the elections. Fact of the matter is that NDA has won the election and PM Modi appears firm as usual. 

But the very idea of the Congress entrusting RG with the responsibility of LoP indicates that the party is aiming big for the future and the obvious is to unseat the NDA from the power.

The Leader of Opposition has its role in the selection process of chiefs of CBI, Central Vigilance Commissioner, Members of the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner, chief of NHRC and Lokpal. Rahul Gandhi will use these opportunities strategically to its benefit and to corner the ruling BJP that he has already started doing. 

Gandhi will now have cabinet rank as LOP giving him first-ever constitutional position but that comes with responsibility. If the responsibility of the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs is to manage floor of the house, the LoP will have to take other opposition parties along to counter the government that needs a good managerial skill.

Some formal official occasions that as MP Rahul Gandhi could have avoided but as LoP he won’t be able to do and in case he does, it will send a wrong political message. In many cases, he will have to negotiate then and there on various issues even when discussion on appointments is being made. If he has the maximum chance of strategically exposing the government and reaping maximum benefit out of this where there is a lame duck government, there is a chance of getting exposed as he has to deal with no normal adversary. Whatever be the case, it is certainly going to be interesting political scenario to watch for till what time, not an easy guess.

(By Rakesh Ranjan)