• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will occupy the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a letter about the decision has been sent to Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab.

• With this decision, Rahul Gandhi would now get the status of a Cabinet Minister’s rank. 

• Rahul as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha would also be a member of important panels on key appointments of Lokpal, CBI chief, Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, besides the selection of Central Vigilance Commission, the Central Information Commission and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chief. The Prime Minister heads all such panels.

• Rahul Gandhi, 54, has been an MP for five terms and currently represents the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha, previously held by his mother Sonia Gandhi. He took oath as an MP on June 25.

• Though he won from two constituencies — Wayanad in Kerala and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, he resigned from the Wayanad constituency.

• Rahul Gandhi entered politics in 2004 when he won for the first time from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

• The Congress, being the single largest opposition party, gets the post of opposition leader after a gap of 10 years.

• It had failed to get the 10 per cent members required in the Lok Sabha to secure the post in the 2014 and 2019 elections.

The role of Leader of the Opposition

• The leader of the largest opposition party having not less than one-tenth seats of the total strength of the Lok Sabha is recognised as the leader of the Opposition.

• He/she will be a member of crucial committees such as Public Accounts (Chairman), Public Undertakings, Estimates and several Joint Parliamentary Committees.

• He/she is entitled to be a member of various selection committees responsible for appointing heads of statutory bodies like the Central Vigilance Commission, the Central Information Commission, the CBI, the NHRC, and the Lokpal.

• He/she provides constructive criticism of the government policies and to provide an alternative government.

• The leader of Opposition in both the Houses were accorded statutory recognition under the Salaries and Allowances of Leader of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 and are entitled to the salary, allowances and other facilities equivalent to that of a cabinet minister.

• The office of the leader of the opposition is not mentioned in the Constitution.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)