New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday congratulated Om Birla, who was elected speaker of the Lower House for a second term, and said that he hoped the Opposition would be allowed to raise the voice of people in the House.
He also said the Opposition wanted the House to function "often and well" and added that it was very important that cooperation happens with trust. The Congress leader exuded confidence and said that the hopefully leaders of the opposition will be allowed to speak in the House.
"I'd like to congratulate you for your successful election... I congratulate you on behalf of the entire INDIA alliance. This House represents the voice of people of India... Of course the government has political power, but the opposition also represents the voice of India's people," the Congress leader said. "The opposition would like to assist you in your work. I am confident you will allow us to speak in House," he said.
While speaking in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi underlined that this time the opposition represents significantly more voices of the Indian people than last time, Gandhi stressed that it was very important that the voice of opposition is allowed to be represented in the House.
"I am confident that you will allow us to represent our voice, allow us to speak, to represent voice of people of India." The question, he said, is not how efficiently the House is run, the question is how much of India's voice is allowed to be heard in the House.
"The idea that you can run the House efficiently by silencing the voice of opposition is a non-democratic idea. This election has shown that the people of India expect the opposition to defend the Constitution of this country and we are confident that by allowing Opposition to speak, you will do your duty of defending the Constitution of India," the Congress MP said.