The Congress is mulling the replacement of their Lok Sabha leader, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. While no official update has been given thus far, sources indicate that a decision may be taken after a meeting of the party's Parliament Strategy Group on Wednesday evening. According to reports, the contenders for the post include several top leaders including those who had previously dissented with how the party was functioning.
As per an NDTV report, 'G-23' leaders including Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tiwari are now in the running for the post. While former Congress President Rahul Gandhi is reportedly not a contender, other names that have cropped up include Gaurav Gogoi, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Uttam Kumar Reddy.
For the uninitated, 23 party leaders including Tharoor and Tewari had written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last year calling for a revival of the organisation. Among other things, they had sought a "full time" leadership that is active in the field and "visible" in party offices, dissolution of powers to state units and revamping the CWC in line with the party constitution.
Officials say that Chowdhury's removal will coincide with strict enforcement of the 'one man, one post' policy. He incidentally also helms the West Bengal Congress. The upcoming party meeting is being termed as a 'routine' event that is held ahead of every session of Parliament. But with the Monsoon Session set to start from July 14, many expect any change in leadership to be announced shortly.
Among those who will attend the meeting on Wednesday are Rahul Gandhi, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Chowdhury. Besides them, deputy leaders of Congress in both houses -- Anand Sharma and Gaurav Gogoi -- and chief whips Jairam Ramesh and K Suresh, and Ravneet Bittu will be part of the meeting.
During the virtual meeting, the party will evolve its strategy in cornering the government on key issues such as price rise, inflation and high petrol and diesel prices, besides the Covid situation and the state of the economy. The Congress will also raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal after the French initiated a probe into it.
(With inputs from agencies)
