Congress says it will claim for Leader of Opposition and Deputy Speaker posts

Congress party leader K Suresh on Saturday said Sonia Gandhi will consult senior leaders and nominate the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

“Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will consult senior leaders and nominate the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, she will take the decision. We will claim for the Leader of Opposition and Deputy Speaker posts,” ANI quoted K Suresh as saying.

Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi was elected as chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP). The decision was taken in the very first meeting of newly elected Congress Lok Sabha MPs. The meeting took place in the Central Hall of Parliament.

All 52 Lok Sabha MPs of the Congress were present at the meeting, besides its members in the Rajya Sabha, sources said.

This was the first official meeting that Congress president Rahul Gandhi attended after the May 25 meeting of the party's working committee, where he had offered to quit as Congress chief.

The CWC has already rejected his offer to resign and unanimously passed a resolution authorising him to bring structural changes in the party at all levels in a bid to revamp it.