CWC chooses 'able' Rahul to take on Modi as LoP

New Delhi, NT Bureau: The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Saturday unanimously urged Rahul Gandhi to take on the mantle of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha to which he told the party's top brass that he will take a decision on it "very soon".

Rahul emerged as the most vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, directly attacking him by name in speech after speech despite constant trolling.

For the public, he embodied his “daro mat (fear not)” mantra, becoming a focal point for those seeking an alternative to the Modi era. Once dubbed a “reluctant politician” fond of foreign holidays, Rahul has persevered through a particularly challenging path, facing relentless ridicule and efforts to brand him as a “Pappu.”

The Bharat Jodo Yatra has dispelled that label, and with this election result, the image of an entitled dynast also seems unlikely to persist. Rahul Gandhi has now earned his place against all odds.

Among opposition leaders, Rahul was notably persistent in challenging the RSS, except when he toned down criticism of Veer Savarkar to maintain coalition harmony with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), following advice from NCP leader Sharad Pawar.

At a meeting of the CWC, the party's highest decisionmaking body, chaired by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, he said the Lok Sabha poll mandate is a "decisive rejection" of the politics of divisiveness and hate, and stressed that the INDIA bloc must continue functioning cohesively both inside and outside Parliament.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said Gandhi has taken note of the sentiments of the CWC members and told them that he would take a decision on the LoP "very soon".

"I want to draw your attention to the fact that wherever Bharat Jodo Yatra went we saw an increase in the vote percentage and number of seats for the Congress party," he said.

"The campaign had a distinctive pro-poor focus and highlighted the urgent need for a nation-wide socio-economic caste census to deepen social justice and empowerment and for addressing the demands of youth and farmers immediately," the CWC resolution said.

POLL RESULT A MORAL DEFEAT OF MODI: CWC

Lauding the party's perfor mance in the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress Working Committee on Saturday said the result was not just a political loss but a personal and moral defeat of the prime minister who sought a mandate in his name.

People decisively rejected the type of governance witnessed over the past decade, it said.

"The verdict of the people is not just a political loss but a personal and moral defeat for the prime minister who sought the mandate in his name and ran a campaign anchored in lies, hate, prejudice, divisiveness and extreme bigotry," it said.

"We provided a clear alternative political, economic and social vision. The campaign had a distinctive pro-poor focus and highlighted the urgent need for a nationwide socio-economic caste census to deepen social justice and empowerment and for addressing the demands of youth and farmers immediately," it said.

In UP, 36% want Rahul as PM, 32% say Modi: Survey

In the Lokniti-CSDS postpoll survey data, when respondents were asked who they want as the Prime Minister after this Lok Sabha election, 36% said they wanted Rahul Gandhi and only 32% said that they would prefer Narendra Modi.

The INDIA alliance won 43 seats while the Hindutva party could win only 33 of the 75 seats it contested, and its allies won only one. The Congress bagged six seats out of the 17 it contested.

The most important factor which was responsible for the poor performance of the BJP and the spectacular performance of the Samajwadi Party was that the “Modi magic” appeared to have waned significantly in Uttar Pradesh, the post-poll survey results showed