New Delhi: The Congress’s parliamentary party (CPP) named Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, often referred to as the “Robin Hood of Murshidabad”, as its leader in the Lok Sabha. He is the most senior among the 52 Congress candidates who won.
The decision is said to have come after senior Congress leaders failed to convince party president Rahul Gandhi to take up the post. Since Gandhi was reluctant to take any responsibility in the party, including that of the president’s, party leaders discussed the names of Chowdhury, Shashi Tharoor, Kerala leader K. Suresh and party spokesperson Manish Tewari for leading the CPP in the Lok Sabha.
Who would become the CPP leader became a problem as Mallikarjun Kharge, who occupied the post in the last Lok Sabha, lost from his constituency, Kalaburgi. Kharge lost after 11 successive wins – nine assembly and two Lok Sabha elections – to a newbie BJP candidate, Umesh Jadhav. Jadhav is a former Congress MLA from the region.
With Chowdhury’s nomination, the impasse has ended. It appears that Chowdhury’s seniority – he is a five-term MP from Bahrampur, West Bengal – tilted the scale in his favour. The announcement came after the CPP met early this morning to discuss its parliamentary strategy.
No party is in a position to take the seat of leader of opposition. A party needs at least 55 MPs or one-third of the total strength of the Lok Sabha to stake claim for the post. Congress, with 52 MPs, could therefore only name Chowdhury as the leader of its party in the Lok Sabha. But the party sent a letter to the Lok Sabha secretariat that Chowdhury would represent the party in all important selection committees.
According to sources, the first task cut out for Chowdhury is to oppose the “One Country, One Election” idea on June 19, when an all-party meeting will be held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress has been opposing the idea since it was first mooted by the Modi government last year, saying it may violate constitutional and federal principles.
After the BJP lost three crucial assembly elections – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – in December 2018, it quietly put the issue on the back burner. However, it appears the saffron party wants to revive the issue once again, now that it has been re-elected with a thumping majority.
A few days ago, Union parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi wrote to all parties to attend the crucial meeting to discuss various matters, one of which was “One Country, One Election”. The other issues to be discussed in the all-party meet are charting out celebrations for Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, development of “aspirational” districts, increasing the productivity of parliament and so on.
The Congress leaders this morning also decided not to oppose the NDA candidate Om Birla for the post of speaker.
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Chowdhury will take over the leader of the CPP at a time when Modi has been emphasising on the need for a vibrant opposition in parliament. Over the last week, he has reached out to the opposition leaders, irrespective of their numbers, to increase productivity of the Lok Sabha.
“When we come to parliament, we should forget about paksh and vipaksh (government and opposition). We should think about issues with a nishpaksh (impartial) spirit and work in the larger interest of the nation,” the prime minister said.
Chowdhury, however, took on the prime minister after this message. “If the prime minister’s message is delivered to his ministers or juniors then it will be beneficial for all… What the prime minister is preaching is most of the time not being implemented by their party leaders,” IANS quoted him as saying.
Despite a highly polarised election between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in West Bengal, Chowdhury retained his stronghold. He defeated the TMC candidate by more than 80,000 votes and is currently one among the two elected Congress candidates.
He joined the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi and from then on, has emerged as the strongest leader in the West Bengal Congress. He is known for his strong-arm tactics to counter opposition leaders, but is credited for Congress’s continuous good showing in north Bengal. He was appointed as the president of the West Bengal Pradesh Committee in 2014.
Chowdhury also served as the minister of state for railways during UPA-II government under then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has also been a member of several parliamentary standing committees and consultative groups since 1999, when he first became a Lok Sabha member.