Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was elected the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party at a meeting of the newly-elected Congress Lok Sabha MPs on Saturday.
"We thank the 12.13 crore voters for reposing faith in the Congress part," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala quoted Sonia Gandhi as saying.
They just can't let go, can they? Despite being utterly decimated, twice, they keep reposing faith in the Gandhis.
— meghnad (@Memeghnad) June 1, 2019
For what joy I don't understand. -_-https://t.co/Fsp0cEuPPX
The Congress Parliamentary Party--which comprises the new MPs and members of the Rajya Sabha met at the Central Hall of Parliament on Saturday to elect a leader in the Lower House and strategise for the upcoming session, reports Scroll.in.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi thanked the voters and Congress workers, said Surjewala.
"Every Congress member must remember that each one of you is fighting for the Constitution, for every person in India irrespective of the colour of his skin or belief," Surjewala quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying.
Congratulations to Smt Sonia Gandhi on being elected Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. Under her leadership, the Congress will prove to be a strong & effective opposition party, that will fight to defend the Constitution of India. pic.twitter.com/iUcdB51tHE
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 1, 2019
Soon after the meeting, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "Congratulations to Smt Sonia Gandhi on being elected Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. Under her leadership, the Congress will prove to be a strong & effective opposition party, that will fight to defend the Constitution of India."
This was the first official meeting that Rahul Gandhi attended after the meeting of the party’s working committee on May 25, when he offered to quit as party chief.
Congratulations to former @INCIndia President Smt Sonia Gandhi Ji,on being elected as Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. Congress will be a democratic opposition which upholds interests of people & protects constitutional virtues of the nation, under your leadership pic.twitter.com/J0G2Vp9Dli
— Neeraj Kundan (@Neerajkundan) June 1, 2019
The Congress Working Committee had rejected his offer to resign and unanimously passed a resolution authorising him to bring structural changes to the party at all levels.
Rahul Gandhi has reportedly been adamant on resigning from his post following the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
His party was able to secure only 52 of the 542 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections – eight seats more than it won in 2014. The BJP won 303 out of 542 seats to get a second straight term in power.