Who will become the next Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha?
Now that Mallikarjun Kharge has resigned from the Rajya Sabha to fight for the Congress presidency, who will become the next Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha? Speculation is rife that the person would be chosen from among the senior leaders Digvijay Singh, Jairam Ramesh and P Chidambaram.
All three are quite capable, with lots of experience in parliamentary politics. And their relations with the Gandhi family are also good, which is a factor that has to be considered when it comes to the Indian National Congress.
But all three also have minds of their own. Which is natural considering their seniority and vast experiences. Therefore, speculation is also swirling that it could be someone else—someone less experienced and with less clout, and therefore, more amenable to being remote-controlled by the Gandhi family.
Last Saturday (October 8), Rahul Gandhi addressed a press conference in Turuvekere in Karnataka, as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign. There he clearly spelt out that whoever would become the next Congress president (with an election happening after 22 long years), be it Mallikarjun Kharge or Shashi Tharoor, would not be remote-controlled in any way, and that it would be an insult to the two senior to even think that way.
So the talk of the town is: Would the Gandhi family really let go of any control over Congress decision-making, be it in the party or in Parliament, so easily?
Incidentally, Jairam Ramesh (who has been elected from Karnataka) was present at the press conference too, along with his Rajya Sabha colleague Randeep Surjewala (a contender for the LoP post?) and former chief minister Siddaramaiah.
