Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who won both the Wayanad and Rae Bareli constituencies in the recently-held Lok Sabha elections, will decide in “three to four days” which seat he will represent in the upcoming 18th Lok Sabha and which one he will vacate, the Congress announced on Saturday. As he can only keep one seat, Gandhi is expected to make his decision shortly.
Senior party leader KC Venugopal stated that Rahul Gandhi must make his decision before June 17, as the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha is likely to begin around June 15. “Of course, that decision has to be taken before the 17th… it will come within three to four days,” Venugopal told reporters. He made these remarks during a press conference following a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
Rahul Gandhi, a former chief of the grand old party, retained Kerala’s Wayanad seat, which elected him as its Member of Parliament (MP) for a second consecutive time. He secured 647,445 votes, or 60% of the total votes polled, while his runner-up, Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India (CPI), polled 283,023 votes (26%), according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
In Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli segment, he secured 687,649 votes (66%), while Dinesh Pratap Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came second with 297,619 votes (29%), ECI data shows. Gandhi contested from Rae Bareli after his mother and former Congress president, five-time Rae Bareli MP Sonia Gandhi, vacated the seat and moved to the Rajya Sabha in February due to health issues.
A person contesting a Lok Sabha or assembly (state) election in India can stand from a maximum of two seats. If they win both, they must vacate one, and a by-election is conducted to fill the resulting vacancy.
In the 2019 general elections, Rahul Gandhi stood from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi—where he had previously won in 2004, 2009, and 2014—as well as Wayanad. He lost the Amethi seat to BJP’s Smriti Irani but was victorious in Wayanad.
AAP Demands SC-Monitored SIT Probe into NEET ‘Irregularities’
New Delhi, The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged irregularities in NEET-UG, calling it a serious matter concerning the future of the country’s youth. During a press conference, AAP leader Jasmine Shah criticized the BJP, noting that most allegations suggesting a “big scam” in the exam have emerged from states governed by the saffron party.
Shah highlighted that the first reports of paper leaks came from Bihar and Gujarat. Additionally, it was discovered that out of the 67 toppers, six were from a single center in Haryana’s Jhajjar.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) announced the results for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) on Tuesday.
“The National Testing Agency is silent over questions on the paper leak and its scope, which could be extensive. Again, grace marks given to some students are also inexplicable, and there is no transparency in it,” Shah charged.
A Congress Working Committee resolution praised Rahul Gandhi for his role in the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to be the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha after the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest executive forum of the party, urged the former party chief to assume the role. In another resolution, the CWC unanimously requested Rahul Gandhi to take the LoP post in the Lok Sabha.
“All participants were unanimous that Rahul Gandhi should become the LoP,” Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said after the CWC meeting.
“In this election, we raised burning issues such as unemployment, price rise, women’s issues, Agniveer, and social justice. These issues have to be addressed in a greater manner inside Parliament as well. Rahul Gandhi is the best person to lead this campaign in the Lok Sabha. In the current scenario, for a better, stronger, and vigilant Opposition, and for those who want to protect the Constitution, it should be safe under Rahul Gandhi as LoP,” Venugopal added.
