On Monday, Congress' top leadership gathered at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence to deliberate whether Rahul Gandhi should vacate his Wayanad or Rae Bareli seat. The meeting also focused on whether Rahul Gandhi would assume the role of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, according to sources. Present at the discussions were Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former party president Rahul Gandhi, and party general secretaries K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The leaders reportedly engaged in crucial talks about which seat Rahul Gandhi should vacate or retain, and his potential appointment as Leader of Opposition.
Rahul Gandhi, who won both the Wayanad and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies, is required to vacate one of the seats within 14 days of the Lok Sabha results, announced on June 4. The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body, passed a resolution during its June 8 meeting urging Rahul Gandhi to accept the Leader of Opposition position, citing him as "the best person" for the role, according to Venugopal. There are indications that Priyanka Gandhi may contest from the seat Rahul Gandhi vacates in the bypoll.
Rahul Gandhi registered a decisive victory in Wayanad and Raebareli constituencies in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Election 2024. . Gandhi won both Lok Sabha seats with a margin of over 3 lakh votes.In Wayanad, the Congress leader, who is also the sitting MP, beat his nearest CPI rival, veteran leader Annie Raja, with 3,64,422 votes, according to the Election Commission of India. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Rahul Gandhi won in Wayanad, securing a significant mandate with 706,367 votes. His closest rival, PP Suneer of the CPI, garnered 274,597 votes.Meanwhile, in Congress bastion Raebaraeli, Rahul Gandhi defeated BJP rival Dinesh Pratap Singh, a minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet in Uttar Pradesh, with over 3 lakh votes.