New Delhi, There has been clear information that Mallikarjun Kharge will continue as the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha even after being elected as the Congress President.
However, it has also been said that he will continue as the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha until the party-high command takes a decision on who to replace Mallikarjuna.
But the informants say that there is no substitute for Kharge, which is not acceptable. Not only that, but due to this, the party has taken a complete U-turn on the principle of one person in one position. It becomes clear. It is well known that when Ashok Gehlot asked to continue as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan along with taking over the post of party president, Rahul himself did not tell him clearly that Gehlot accepted the first option as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
It is further learned that when Sonia Gandhi called a meeting of the Strategy Group of the Congress Parliamentary Party, only Khadge, Jairam Ramesh and K.C. Venugopal himself was summoned from the Rajya Sabha.
But, other MPs for the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Digvijay Singh and P. Chidambaram was not invited. Although these two were actually the main contenders for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the mystery remains as to why they were not invited to that strategic group.
In fact, Gehlot was the first choice of the Gandhi family for the post of party president. But he was not ready to give up the post of Chief Minister of Rajasthan. On the other hand, if Gehlot reaches the national level (as Congress President), Sachin Pilot will replace him (as Chief Minister), it was natural, but the majority of Rajasthan Congress MLAs were not ready to accept Pilot as Chief Minister.
In these coincidences, Rahul Gandhi made it clear that the party would stick to the one-man-one-post principle, so Gehlot was dropped and Kharge was announced as the official candidate.
It may be mentioned that Kharge had given his letter of resignation as the leader of the Congress party in the Rajya Sabha before filing the nomination papers for the Congress presidential election, but due to lack of alternative or some unknown reason, he has been asked to continue as the leader of the opposition in the upper house at least till the winter session.HS1MS
