Congress may have new leader in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi top contender

The Bharatiya Janata Party is abuzz with talk of a reshuffle of the cabinet and the Congress, for its part, is abuzz with talk of its own reshuffle.

Among the larger changes in the organisation, the Congress Party is expected to have a new leader in the Lok Sabha and at least two senior Congress leaders confirmed to HT that Rahul Gandhi is a top contender for the job.

To be sure, there is nothing official about it because Gandhi is yet to agree to this, they added. However, HT learns that Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are both keen that Gandhi accept this role and are trying to all they can to ensure he does.

Congress’s chief spokesperson Rabdeep Surjewala refused to comment.

If Gandhi accepts, the post of Congress President could go to someone outside the family, something that would also address the demands of the Group of 23 Congress leaders who have been asking for internal elections, the two leaders added. However, the decision on the Congress President may be taken later stage since the tenure of the current All India Congress Committee is till 2022.

Not everyone in the Gandhi camp is convinced he should take the job which is currently Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s.

“This would tie him down to Parliament, and in some ways it is a much tougher job than being Congress President,’’ said one member of Parliament who asked not to be named. Gandhi has often been attacked by the Bhartiya Janata Party for his patchy parliament attendance, and not being regular even in the parliamentary committee hearings.

Chowdhury was blamed for the Congress’ abysmal performance in the West Bengal elections where the 135 year old party failed to get a single seat in the assembly. Other than this, Chowdhury’s colleagues also gave him poor reviews in managing the party’s affairs in Lok Sabha and some even felt that he wasn’t antagonistic enough to the ruling party.

When contacted Adhir Chowdhury’s office said no one has indicated to him that his position in the Lok Sabha will end soon. Chowdhury also told a senior Congress leader that if the party decides to give him some other role, he will gladly accept it. the second Congress functionary added that Chowdhury might have to leave the West Bengal state Congress president’s post after the debacle of the party in the recent assembly polls

Gandhi has indicated that he may agree to taking up an official post, even saying so to a visiting leader from a Southern state last week.

“Rahul Gandhi as leader in Lok Sabha was something that has always been an idea and even Pranab Mukherjee suggested it once,” said a senior leader who asked not to be named, but “whether he will accept it at this stage is a big if.”