Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha while Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad will occupy the chair of leader of the Opposition.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari made the announcement on the first day’s sitting of the Upper House after the lok Sabha elections.
Ansari said Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu wrote to him on June 2 informing that Jaitley will the leader of the House in Rajya Sabha. He said the letter regarding Azad being made the leader of Congress came to him on Monday.
Jaitley (61), a senior BJP member was earlier leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha during UPA Government, while Azad (65) was Union Health Minister.
Both Jaitley and Azad lost elections from Amritsar in Punjab and Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir respectively in this lok Sabha polls but the tenure of their Rajya Sabha membership still remains. While Jaitley is a member of Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, Congress leader Azad is a member from Jammu and Kashmir.