Rahul Gandhi, the main opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was nominated on Saturday to head the opposition in India’s parliament following election results that lifted his party out of the electoral wilderness.
This weekend, after a vote that denied his governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a majority and forced it to rely on coalition partners to rule, Modi will take office for a third term.
Gandhi helped his Congress party virtually quadruple its parliamentary numbers, its highest showing since Modi was swept to power ten years ago, defying exit polls and expert projections.
The Congress leadership met on Saturday and decided unanimously to support Gandhi’s appointment to the role of official opposition leader of India, which has been unfilled since 2014.
Following the meeting, Congress national secretary K.C. Venugopal said at a press conference, “All participants unanimously passed the resolution that Rahul Gandhi should take the position of leader of opposition in the parliament.”
Later on Saturday, the nominee will be presented to a gathering of legislators from an opposition alliance led by Congress.
Gandhi is the son, grandson, and great-grandson of past prime ministers, starting with independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru. His family controlled Indian politics for many years.
If he is elected, as predicted, he would take office as the official opposition leader of India when the new parliament convenes, which may happen as early as next week, according to predictions from the local media.
According to parliamentary rules, the leader of the opposition must represent a party that has a minimum of 10% of the 543 members in the lower house of representatives.
The position has been unfilled for ten years since Congress, which was previously the majority party in India, failed to meet the requirements in two disappointing election outcomes.
