With the Congress suffering a shattering defeat, party president Sonia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul Gandhi are said to be averse to taking up the post of Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.

This could brighten the chances of Kamal Nath, the senior-most Congress MP, becoming leader of the Congress in the House.

He can become the leader of the opposition if the Speaker relaxes the rules or recognises the entire UPA as a block, which has 56 MPs.