Shashi Tharoor (File photo)
NEW DELHI: After Congress MP Rahul Gandhi completed two years as leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, senior party MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday wished him “strength and courage” in his “fight for the future of India.””All the best to Shri @RahulGandhi ji as he completes two years as Leader of the Opposition. Wishing him continued strength and courage as he fights for the future of India,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP posted on X. Tharoor’s remarks came days after he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conveying India’s concerns to US President Donald Trump over the safety of civilian sailors in the Strait of Hormuz, a comment that drew criticism from the Congress. A day later, he said Jammu and Kashmir was making “encouraging progress towards normalcy”—the Union territory lost its statehood in August 2019 after the Modi government revoked Article 370 of the Constitution. Since then, the opposition, including the Congress, has been demanding restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.Also Read | Congress vs Congress again: A day after backlash for PM Modi praise, Shashi Tharoor faces criticism over Kashmir remarksLast year as well, Tharoor had drawn attention for a series of remarks praising PM Modi on various issues, sparking unease within the Congress. On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi completed two years as LoP, a post that had remained vacant since 2014 due to the BJP’s parliamentary majority with the NDA — the coalition it leads —providing additional numbers, leaving the Congress and the broader opposition short of the numbers required to stake a claim to the position.”Today marks two years since I became the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Every single day of these two years has been dedicated to one task—to carry the voice of every Indian to the corridors of power,” the Raebareli MP wrote in a post a day later.Under parliamentary rules, a party must secure at least one-tenth of the total strength of the House (55 out of 543) to claim the Leader of Opposition position. The Congress crossed this threshold in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by winning 99 seats, up from 44 in 2014 and 52 in 2019.The BJP, meanwhile, fell to 240 seats, short of the 272-seat majority mark, and formed the government with the support of its allies in the NDA.
