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Congress gives party baton to Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Lok Sabha

Sources say Rahul Gandhi refused to take the charge

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UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi with Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (extreme right) after a meeting to decide their strategy in Parliament
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Finally, senior leaders of a beleaguered Congress managed to jostle their heads together on Tuesday and named their MP from West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as party's parliamentary party leader for the 17 th Lok Sabha.

The party arrived at the decision after top Congress leaders failed to convince party president Rahul Gandhi to take up the post. The parliamentary leader is considered as the fulcrum of the party in the Lok Sabha who firms up the line of attack and leads the party to counter the government on thorny issues.

In the 16 th Lok Sabha, despite winning only 44 seats, Mallikarjun Kharge had managed to articulate party's stand and courageously led the party's attack on contentious issues like agrarian distress, unemployment and Rafale deal. To Congress dismay, leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh who would have been a natural choice to become the CPP because of their attacking nature lost in the Lok Sabha elections.

Sources said, after Rahul Gandhi's categorical no to take baton, party leaders discussed several names including that of Shashi Tharoor, K Suresh from Kerala, Chowdhury, and party spokesperson Manish Tewari who won from Punjab to take the leading role of CPP in the Lok Sabha.

The impasse finally ended with Chowdhury's nomination who is among the senior most leaders in Congress for winning MP elections for five terms and is considered vociferous enough to lead strong counter attacks on the government.

Like in Kharge's case who could not become the leader of opposition (LoP) on account of Party's strength being less than 10 percent of the total members of the Lok Sabha or 54 seats, Chowdhury would also represent the party in all important selection committees as merely a CPP leader.

Sources said, the immediate task for Chowdhury is to oppose the issue of "One Country, One Election" at the all-party meet today and try to own up Mahatma Gandhi whose 150th birth anniversary is bein planned in a big manner by the BJP.

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