Congress names Adhir Chowdhury as LS leader

New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday named West Bengal MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.

Mallikarjun Kharge was the leader of the Congress in the previous Lok Sabha, but he lost the election this time. Moreover, Rahul Gandhi’s reluctance in taking up the post forced the party to decide on another name.

Chowdhury’s name was finalised for the position by the top party leadership at a meeting chaired by Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress failed to get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it did not get the benchmark 10 per cent seats required to stake claim for the post.

This is the second time in a row that the grand old party has failed to get the post.

Chowdhury is a five-time MP from West Bengal and has not lost the Lok Sabha election since 1999. He currently represents the Berhampore Lok Sabha constituency in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.

Chowdhury has also been a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 1999.

He has been the chief of the West Bengal Congress and was also the Minister of State for Railways during the UPA government from 2012 to 2014.