Rahul Gandhi's reluctance to take up the post of the Leader of the Opposition came up at the crucial Congress meeting this evening where the party took the decision that he would vacate Kerala's Wayanad, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would make her electoral debut from there. With Mr Gandhi's disinclination to take up the job that would herald the arrival of a resurgent Congress flashed on headlines, the leaders were asked about the matter at the post-meet media conference.
Asked whether it was true that Mr Gandhi was threatened with action by the Congress chief in case of a refusal, Mallikarjun Kharge tried evasive tactics, saying he would announce it when a decision is made. "Par dhamki toh diye the (but he did threaten)," Rahul Gandhi said, grinning broadly.
Sources had said that when the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body, requested Mr Gandhi to become the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Kharge had jokingly said if he refused, "I will have to take disciplinary action".
The Opposition will have a leader in the Lok Sabha after a decade following its hugely improved performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. Ninety-nine of its 232 seats have come from the Congress, and as the largest party in the Opposition benches, it is expected to provide the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr Gandhi, whose Bharat Jodo Yatra was widely cited as the reason for the Congress boost -- the party won 44 seats in 2014 and 52 in 2019 -- was expected to present the aggressive face of a muscular Opposition. The move could add to his stature, placing him on par with cabinet ministers and making him the nodal point for allies.
But the leader, who stepped down from the Congress chief's position after the party was trounced in the 2019 general election, has been unwilling to take any post since.
The party, though, has not given up on the hope that he might be prevailed on to accept.
Sources said his mother and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi has been trying to convince him. Meanwhile, three senior leaders -- Kumari Selja, Gaurav Gogoi and Manish Tiwari -- are being considered as back-up.
The Lok Sabha post or not, Mr Gandhi is expected to have his hands full, given his promise to Wayanad today that it would have "two Members of Parliament".
"Priyanka will contest from Wayanad, but I will be a frequent visitor and we will meet the promises made to the people of Wayanad," he had said.
