Rahul setting agenda, LoP is 'shadow PM' in parliamentary system, says Jairam Ramesh

The Congress General Secretary also asserted that going forward the I.N.D.I.A. bloc has to be further strengthened and a common agenda has to be prepared for the alliance.

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said that Rahul Gandhi becoming the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha has been a "booster dose" for the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and noted that LoP is considered a "shadow prime minister" in a parliamentary system.

Ramesh also asserted that going forward the I.N.D.I.A. bloc has to be further strengthened and a common agenda has to be prepared for the alliance.

In an interview with PTI, Ramesh said Gandhi has been aggressive in his role as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and has raised people's issues.

Asked whether he sees Gandhi as a future prime minister, Ramesh said, "Right now, he is the Leader of Opposition. We are functioning as a cohesive alliance. We are not looking that far ahead. I think he is setting the agenda. Mr Gandhi is setting the agenda, the Congress is setting the agenda, the I.N.D.I.A. 'janbandhan' is setting the agenda."

"Let us not jump 10 steps ahead, let us take one step at a time," he added.

On Congress leaders asserting that Gandhi has the qualities to assume the PM's post in future, Ramesh said, "In a parliamentary system, the Leader of Opposition is a shadow prime minister. It is obviously the case but as an LoP he has tremendous responsibilities to function and in the short time that he has been an LoP, he has already had a very significant impact both in Parliament and outside. But we have a long way to go."

During the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the people saw real Rahul Gandhi, Ramesh said.

"We have to strengthen the I.N.D.I.A. bloc further and prepare a common agenda," he said.

"After becoming the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, there is a new vigour in the Congress and I.N.D.I.A. bloc. This is a booster dose for us," Ramesh said.

His remarks come a day after Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot said he sees Rahul Gandhi as a leader who will lead the country in the future and the entire opposition will stand unitedly behind him when the next Lok Sabha elections happen.

"We all see him as a leader who will lead the country and when the next elections happen, the people of India and the entire opposition will stand unitedly behind Rahul Gandhi," Pilot had said.

Earlier this month, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi had said he sees Rahul Gandhi as a future prime minister and asserted that he earned "this right" to assume the post whenever the party comes to power.

Gandhi, who has been an MP for five terms and currently represents the Rae Bareli constituency previously held by his mother Sonia Gandhi, assumed the mantle of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha in June after the general elections.

He won from two constituencies in the polls but vacated the Wayanad seat in Kerala, from where his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest a bypoll.

Gandhi entered the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2004 following his victory from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.