Senior party leader and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has been named as the Leader of the Opposition after the expiry of the term of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad. The organization’s general secretary Venugopal said that the Congress had informed Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu that Kharge would be nominated by the party after Azad’s term ended.
This means that Kharge will be the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Anand Sharma, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha also wanted him to be made the Leader of the Opposition. But after writing a letter to Sonia Gandhi, who is currently raising many questions about the organization, the party leadership was not enthusiastic about giving her this responsibility.
At the same time, Mallikarjun Kharge is considered very close to Rahul Gandhi. Despite losing the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the party gave him a chance in the Rajya Sabha. Notably, there will be no representative of Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha after 15 February. Currently there are 4 Rajya Sabha seats from here, but there have been no elections there since the union territory was formed.
At present there is no member from Rajya Sabha. The tenure of two Peoples Democratic Party MPs, Nazir Ahmed Lave (February 10) and Mir Mohammad Fayaz (February 15), will also expire. Gulab Nabi Azad’s term was till 15 February and Shamsher Singh Manhas of Bharatiya Janata Party had till 10 February.