Mallikarjun Kharge resigns as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha

Adhering to the "one person, one post" norm adopted at the Udaipur Conclave, senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge has submitted his resignation as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha to Congress president Sonia Gandhi after filing the nomination for Congress president's post.

With Kharge stepping down, Congress will now be looking for a suitable candidate for Leader of Opposition. Digvijaya Singh, who bowed out of the race after Kharge’s name was finalised for the contest, and senior MP Pramod Tewari are the frontrunners for the post.

There is a thinking in the party that with Kharge in all probability becoming the party chief, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha should be from the north and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Singh fits the bill. If this line of thought gets predominant in the party, senior leader P Chidambaram’s chances will be less.

If the leadership is not keen on Singh or Tewari, then the probable face would be Mukul Wasnik.

Sources said Kharge submitted the letter to Sonia on Friday evening after he filed the nominations. Sonia will now decide Kharge’s successor and inform Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar.

As per practice, the largest party in Rajya Sabha informs about who will be the Leader of Opposition and the Chairman then notifies it.

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With Kharge stepping down, Congress will now be looking for a suitable candidate for Leader of Opposition in the upper house. Digvijaya Singh, who bowed out of the race after Kharge’s name was finalised for the contest, is the front runner for the post.

There is a thinking in the party that with Kharge in all probability becoming the party chief, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha should be from the north and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Singh fits the bill. If this line of thought gets predominant in the party, senior leader P Chidambaram’s chances will be less.

If the leadership is not keen on Singh, then the probable faces would be Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tewari.

The "one person, one post" norm cost Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, whom Sonia herself had urged to take over the mantle, the Congress president's post as his supporters were not keen that he quit before the election. Their attempt was to prevent his bete noire Sachin Pilot from succeeding him. In the run-up to the nomination, Gehlot had said that the ‘one person, one post’ norm was not applicable to elected posts and he could continue in both. But former party president Rahul Gandhi’s remark that he expects that the Udaipur declaration would be applicable sealed the issue and Gehlot too changed his line.