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Updated: Jun 10, 2019 07:47 IST

The Congress, which has 52 members in the Lok Sabha, may have to look for a floor leader other than Rahul Gandhi after indications that the Congress president, who is persisting with his decision to relinquish the organisational post in light of the election results, is also unwilling to lead the party in the Lower House.

Two senior leaders close to Rahul Gandhi said he wants to work for the party in Parliament and outside it, without assuming a formal role or office.

This scenario throws open the question whether Sonia Gandhi, who has been re-elected chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), will take up that role, or name someone else to replace Mallikarjun Kharge, who led the Congress in the 16th Lok Sabha.

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Having lost in his old stronghold Amethi to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Smriti Irani, Rahul Gandhi represents Kerala’s Wayanad in the Lok Sabha. Given that the Congress is three short of the 55 members needed to be recognised as the principal Opposition party, it will have to remain contended with the status of largest Opposition group — like over the past five years.

The previous speaker, Sumitra Mahajan, cited a ruling of the first speaker, GV Mavalankar, to deny the Congress the Leader of Opposition (LoP) slot. A party has to have a legislative presence equal to the quorum to run the House (10% of the 545 members) to get the office of LoP with its attendant protocol and perks.

The Congress leaders cited above indicated that leading the party without formal LoP status makes it politically untenable for Sonia Gandhi to take up the job, but, as the CPP chairperson, she has to nominate someone. The onus will have to fall on a new face as Kharge was defeated from his pocket borough of Gulbarga. If Rahul Gandhi cannot be persuaded, the responsibility could get devolved to one of the other MPs with parliamentary flair and experience. Among those who appear to fulfil the criterion are Kerala’s Shashi Tharoor and Punjab’s Manish Tewari, besides Assam’s Gaurav Gogoi.

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The talent hunt will necessarily be expanded as the positions of deputy leader and the party chief whip are also to be filled. The Congress deputy leader in the previous House was Amarinder Singh (before he became Punjab chief minister) and Joytiraditya Scindia was the chief whip.

The Congress and its allies won 61 of the total of 130 Lok Sabha seats in the southern states. That makes the region’s claim to lead the party in the House.

Twenty-eight of the 52 Congress MPs are from the south. This yardstick brings into the reckoning Congress’s Telangana MP Uttam Kumar Reddy, former Puducherry chief minister Ve Vaithilingam, and former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran’s son, K Muraleedharan.

The party may also want to strike a balance between the north and the south as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, is from Jammu and Kashmir.

“Clarity will come once Rahul decides his role in the party,” said a party functionary who asked not to be named. Be that as it may, the appointments cannot be delayed beyond June 17, when the House meets for its first sitting. The BJP has 303 members in the House, and with its allies the total swells to 353.