The UPA chairperson will now pick the party’s floor leader in the House.

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on June 1 was elected as the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party at a meeting in New Delhi.

“Smt. Sonia Gandhi elected as the leader of Congress Parliamentary Party! She says, ‘we thank the 12.13 Cr voters for reposing faith in the Congress Party,” chief spokesperson of the Congress Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.

Ms. Gandhi will now pick the party’s floor leader in the Lok Sabha. There has been speculation that Rahul Gandhi, who resigned from the party president post, may opt for this position. In the outgoing Lok Sabha, it was held by Karnataka MP Mallikarjun Kharge. He was defeated in the Gulbarga constituency in the recent general election.

Smt. Sonia Gandhi elected as the leader of Congress Parliamentary Party!



She says, ‘we thank the 12.13 Cr voters for reposing faith in the Congress Party’. pic.twitter.com/H4z9i3dN8B — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) June 1, 2019

In an unprecedented crisis, lies an unprecedented opportunity, said the newly-elected Ms. Gandhi said.

“We were up against an election machinery with all odds stacked against us — unlimited resources, ability to manipulate public opinion and the spread of mischievous propaganda. I congratulate you for standing up successfully for the values and ideals of the Congress party,” she said.

She applauded the ‘kaaryakartas’ as frontline soldiers whose resilience ensured 12.3 crore votes. She also thanked the voters, calling a vote for Congress as a vote to safeguard the Constitution.

With Congress President Rahul Gandhi unmoved by entreaties to rethink his decision to resign from the party president’s post, a good part of Ms. Gandhi’s speech was dedicated talking about 18-months tenure of her son.

She said that Mr. Gandhi ran a “valiant” and “relentless” campaign. “As Congress president, he has given his all and toiled night and day for the Congress party. He demonstrated his fearless leadership, by taking the Modi government head on,” remarked Ms. Gandhi.

She credited him for rejuvenating the organisation and for victories in assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. “Even as I speak, emotional messages are coming from all corners, vindicating his leadership. We all express our gratitude to him for his sincerity of purpose, his relentless effort, his hard work and leadership,” she said.

At the meeting, Mr. Gandhi thanked the voters and the party workers. “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,” he said.

Also Read CPP to take call on role for Rahul if he is firm on quitting

With 52 MPs, the post of Leader of the Opposition remains elusive again for the Congress. As per the norm, an Opposition party that has the strength of at least 10% of the House gets the position. With 545 members in the House, the party that has 55 members is eligible for the position.

The other front runner for the post is three-time MP Shashi Tharoor.

The floor leader sets the agenda for his party in the House, decides its parliamentary strategy and coordinates with other Opposition parties and the government on behalf of his party.