In his first speech as Leader of Opposition of the 18th Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday congratulated BJP’s Om Birla for being re-elected as Lok Sabha Speaker.

Gandhi said that the Lok Sabha Speaker is the final arbiter of the voice of the people, and the Opposition this time represents that voice significantly more than the 17th Lok Sabha.

Clad in a white kurta pyjama, Rahul Gandhi speaking as the Leader of the Opposition said, “I would like to congratulate you for your successful election that you have been elected for the second time. I would like to congratulate you on behalf of the entire Opposition and the INDIA alliance.”

“This House represents the voice of India’s people and you are the final arbiter of that voice. The government has political power but the opposition also represents the voice of India’s people and this time, the opposition represents significantly more voice of the Indian people than it did last time,” the Congress MP said.

Rahul Gandhi also assured the Speaker on behalf of the entire opposition of assisting the speaker in the functioning of the House.

“The opposition would like to assist you in doing your work. We would like the House to function often and well. It is very important that cooperation happens based on trust. It is very important that the voice of the Opposition is allowed to be represented in this House,” said Rahul Gandhi.

“We are confident that by allowing the Opposition to speak, by allowing us to represent the people of India, you will do your duty of defending the Constitution of India. I’d like to once again congratulate you and also all the members of the House who have won their election, said the MP from Raebareli.

Rahul Gandhi in a post on X, said that together Congress will raise the voice of every Indian in Parliament, protect our Constitution, and hold the NDA government accountable for their actions.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and MP from Kota, Om Birla was elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha after the motion for the same was moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The motion was adopted by the house through a voice vote.

The house echoed with ‘Ayes’ and ‘Noes’ and the pro-tem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab declared Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house.

The opposition which had filed K Suresh as the Speaker candidate of the INDIA bloc did not press for a division vote.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi also extended wishes to Birla and accompanied him to the chair along with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and PM Modi.

(ANI)