Rahul as leader of opposition? No thanks, say Cong leaders

Now that the debacle of the Lok Sabha elections is over, Congress faces an important question: Who will be the leader of opposition? While Digvijaya Singh and Youth Congress are clamouring for Rahul Gandhi, a section of Congress leadership is not so keen, reports Times of India. The article also quotes party leader Digvijaya Singh as saying, “I strongly feel he is the leader and has to lead from the front. He should be the leader of opposition.” However his views are not shared by everyone else. According to the report, there is a section that believes that Sonia should take charge once again “to restore the confidence of workers and that she should start with being leader of opposition.” News reports have also indicated that Kamal Nath has also been touted as a possibility. In other words, anybody but Rahul. He is unsuited for the job, these leaders argue,  as “the post would require a full-time engagement and ‘realpolitik’ like cutting deals with government and other opposition outfits.” And they are deeply unenthusiastic at the thought of  replaying the  “Rahul vs Modi faceoff " . [caption id=“attachment_1539457” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rahul Gandhi in this file photo. AFP[/caption] But while senior Congress leaders might not be too happy with the idea of Rahul getting more responsibility, Youth Congress is hoping that Rahul will take the top job in the Parliament. According to a _PTI_  report, Indian Youth Congress (IYC) chief Rajeev Satav tweeted saying, “Youth Congress leaders want (that) Rahul_ji_ should be Leader of Opposition. Demand raised before leadership at Youth Congress meeting.” Satav also tweeted out that Rahul had asked “Youth Congress leaders to be ready for struggle.” According to a TOI report Rahul has asked his partymen, essentially the Youth Congress members, that they must test the BJP on the number of promises the party had made in their manifesto. PTI’s report adds that Rahul Gandhi in his meeting with Youth Congress leaders asked “the body to be battle-ready even as he promised widespread changes in Congress.” This is not the first time that Rahul has talked big since the post-election debacle. Earlier the Indian Express had quoted him as saying in Amethi that he would fight for the people. He had said, “Main janata ke liye ladunga… Hum sashakta vipaksh ki bhumika nibhayenge… Jahan janata ki nahi suni gayi, toh aag laga denge.” (I will fight for the people. We will the role of the opposition effectively. If the people’s voice is not heard, we will set things on fire.) But for all his fiery rhetoric,  Congress leaders have a right to be worried about picking Rahul as leader of opposition. His score card in the Parliament has not been the most inspiring. As India Today pointed out , “Rahul Gandhi did not ask a single question in Parliament. He attended only 42.61 percent of the sittings of the Lok Sabha. His attendance record in the standing committees of which he is a member is an abysmal 13.64 percent. Rahul has spent only 53.68 percent of the MPLADS funds allocated to him."  The report also stated that Rahul had “the fifth worst report card and is placed 17th from the bottom in the overall MP rankings.” More importantly he was the lowest ranking MP among Congress leaders, which explains why the leadership is not too overjoyed at the thought of giving him the top post in the Parliament. The Congress party got only 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, which is not even the minimum number of seats required to be the official opposition (that is 10 percent of the total seats in the Lok Sabha).  If the Speaker does decide to informally recognise a Congress MP as the leader of opposition – as he/she has the power to do – it’s fair to assume to assume that India’s grand old party wouldn’t want someone who didn’t ask a single question in the last Lok Sabha.