Mallikarjun Kharge to continue as LoP this session

The Congress has decided to demand discussions on three key issues during the upcoming Winter session of Parliament starting Wednesday. These include the Indo-China border tensions, the rising tussle between the government and the Supreme Court over appointment of judges, and inflation.

The party leadership also indicated, as ET reported on Saturday, that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would also continue as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha during the Winter session, if not beyond it, as Congress Parliamentary Party chairman Sonia Gandhi appears to be in no hurry to accept his resignation as LoP, which Kharge had submitted to her in adherence to the party's one-man-one-post principle.

Responding to media queries on whether Gandhi would accept Kharge's resignation as LoP and appoint a new person to the post, party chief whip Jairam Ramesh said at a briefing: "Sonia Gandhi is our CPP chairman and Mallikarjun Kharge is the Congress president. Whatever has to be done (with regard to Kharge's pending offer of resignation as LoP) would be done by the CPP chairman. But Khargeji will talk to all leaders of the Opposition parties (for floor-coordination during the Winter session) in his capacity not only as the Congress president but also as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha."

The Congress' Parliamentary agenda was firmed up at a meeting of the party's Parliamentary strategy committee on Saturday, which was presided over by Gandhi, attended by Kharge and other members, including P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Manish Tewari and Kodikunnil Suresh. The issue of LoP didn't figure in the talks at the meeting.