With Rahul Gandhi refusing to budge from his stance on not leading the party either in Parliament or outside, the Congress on Tuesday named its five-time MP from West Bengal and former Union Minister Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as its leader in the Lok Sabha.
He will succeed Mallikarjun Kharge, who lost the Lok Sabha election, forcing the party to decide on another name. Chowdhury’s name was cleared by the top party leadership during a meeting at UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s residence, after which a letter of his appointment was handed over to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Chowdhury, who took part in the meeting, initially denied any deliberation over the issue. However, later on he confirmed saying, “I have been given this responsibility (the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha). I was asked to stand in the front. I said okay. I am a foot soldier and foot soldiers stand in front. So I will fight as a foot soldier.”
Chowdhury, who is the Congress’ face in Bengal, was chosen over party’s senior most MP K Suresh from Kerala and Shashi Tharoor, the MP from Thiruvanathapuram. Suresh could get an another important position, sources said.
The Congress failed to secure the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it did not get the requisite 10 per cent seats of the House. This is for the second time in a row that the grand old party has failed to get the post. In 2014, its tally stood at 44 while in 2019 it is 52, three less than the required number to get the Leader of Opposition post.
Chowdhury is a five-time MP from West Bengal and has not lost the Lok Sabha election since 1999. He represents the Berhampore Lok Sabha constituency in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Earlier Chowdhury was a member of the West Bengal Assembly from 1996 to 1999.
He has been the chief of the West Bengal Congress, besides also being the Minister of State for railways between 2012 and 2014 during the UPA Government. Chowdhury’s fighting spirit helped him win the party’s confidence, said sources.