Hours after filing his nomination papers for the high-stakes election for the post of Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday resigned as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
He met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and submitted his resignation letter at Udaipur Chintan Shivir by the principle of one man, one post adopted by the party.
Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia will now appoint a new leader and convey the decision to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Now the question is who will replace Kharge as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Sources say that the party is in no hurry to take a decision, but the buzz is that the post may go to a leader from a predominantly Hindi-speaking region.
Sources said Digvijay Singh, who dropped out of the presidential race, Pramod Tiwari and Mukul Wasnik, who hails from Maharashtra, could also be in the fray.
Kharge, who hails from South India, is set to become the party president and with the party already having Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in the Lok Sabha, it may see a man from the Hindi belt as the leader of the opposition in the upper reaches. House to balance regional equations.
If the leadership decides to look beyond North India, former Union Minister P Chidambaram may be considered.
