Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was unanimously re-elected as the chairperson of the Congress parliamentary party on Saturday. The decision was made at a meeting of party MPs, where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge proposed Gandhi’s name and Gaurav Gogoi, K Sudhakaran and Tariq Anwar seconded the proposal.
Addressing the newly elected MPs in the Central Hall of Parliament, she said far from taking responsibility for the failure, the prime minister intends to get himself sworn in again on Sunday.
“We do not expect him to change the substance and style of his governance, nor take cognisance of the will of the people,” Sonia Gandhi said.
She said the prime minister had sought the mandate solely in his name to the exclusion of both his party and its allies, but has suffered a political and moral defeat.
“In reality, he has lost the mandate he sought and thereby has lost the right to leadership as well. Yet, far from taking the responsibility for failure he intends to get himself sworn in again tomorrow. We do not expect him to change the substance and style of his governance, nor take cognisance of the will of the people,” she said.
Gandhi was elected to the Rajya Sabha in February. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) earlier today (June 8) urged Rahul Gandhi to assume the role of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, to which he responded that he would make a decision “very soon.”
The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting took place in the Central Hall of Parliament in Delhi. Prominent leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and general secretary KC Venugopal, were in attendance. Other notable attendees included Karti Chidambaram, Rajiv Shukla, Randeep Surjewala, Ajay Maken, former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, and Shashi Tharoor.
(With inputs from PTI)