New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shook hands on Wednesday in parliament. They together welcomed the newly re-elected Speaker Om Birla marking a fresh chapter in the 18^th Lok Sabha.

Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab declared the election results after the Opposition, which had put forward Congress MP K Suresh as its candidate, chose not to push for a vote on the motion. After the Pro –tem Speaker’s announcement, Prime Minister Modi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju approached Birla’s seat in the front row of the treasury benches to escort him to the Speaker’s chair. Accompanying them was Rahul Gandhi.

Modi congratulated Birla and said that it is a matter of honour that you have been elected to this chair for the second time. I congratulate you on behalf of the entire House and look forward to your guidance for the next five years. Your sweet smile keeps the entire House happy, he added.

Opposition leader in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi congratulated to Om Birla and said that I would like to congratulate you on behalf of the entire opposition and the INDIA alliance. You are the final arbiter of people’s voice. The Government may have political power, but Opposition also represents the voice of the people. Opposition would like to assist you in your work, I am confident you will allow us to speak in House, he added.

Rahul Gandhi is the third member of the Gandhi family to take the post of the Leader of the Opposition. Rahul Gandhi’s father late Rajiv Gandhi was the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha in 1989 to 1990. His mother Sonia Gandhi served as opposition leader from 1999 to 2004.