Congress looks for Leader of Opposition as Azad's Rajya Sabha term ends

The Congress party is looking for a replacement of Ghulam Nabi Azad as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha as the senior leader’s term in the upper house expires on February 15.

Azad will be unable to renew his Rajya Sabha term from Jammu and Kashmir as the legislative assembly in the union territory stands dissolved since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two union territories in August 2019.

Former Congress floor leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge,  party’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, former union minister P Chidambaram and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh are the names of leaders doing rounds to replace Azad, according to the sources.

There are also chances that Azad might return to Rajya Sabha from Kerala in two months. Congress holds one of the three seats falling vacant in Kerala in April. But the party has doubts over the Kerala unit as if they will allow an outsider to get elected from the state. The unit had earlier refused to accommodate Chidambaran for a Rajya Sabha seat too.

Party insiders said Kharge was the front runner for the post as he is considered very close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Kharge was accommodated in Rajya Sabha, despite losing Lok Sabha elections in 2019 precisely for this reason, a leader familiar with the developments said.

Anand Sharma was in the race too but his prospects, sources said, diminished after he was part of the group of 23 leaders who wrote a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Seeking sweeping changes in party leadership. Azad was also part of the group.

If the party decides to get Azad back in the House from Kerala then it won’t need a replacement till April as the deputy leader Anand Sharma can step as acting leader of the opposition.